US warns Israeli assault on Rafah without planning would be 'disaster'

The United States on Thursday warned that any Israeli military operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million people are sheltering, with no planning or little thought would be a "disaster." "We would not support the undertaking of something like this without serious and credible planning as it relates to the more than a million people who are sheltering there, as well as without considering the impacts on humanitarian assistance and the safe departure of foreign nationals," State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters.

The U.S. had not seen evidence Israel had undertaken serious planning for such an operation, Patel said, despite U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meeting with Israel's war cabinet on Wednesday.