US Warns, Israeli Defense Minister Talks To Blinken About Rafah Operation

JAKARTA - Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken about the "proper operation" in Rafah, after Washington raised concerns over a massive Israeli attack on the southern Gaza city.

Gallant discussed with Blinken the development in Gaza, including IDF operations across the Gaza Strip in the face of terror points, according to the Israeli defense ministry reported by CNN, Monday, May 13.

Gallant also talked about what the ministry called a proper operation in the Rafah region against the rest of Hamas battalion while securing crossings.

He reiterated the need to release 132 Israeli hostages detained by Hamas. A total of 36 of them include the bodies of prisoners detained in Gaza, according to the Israeli prime minister's office.

For weeks, senior US officials voiced concern over Israel's massive land attack on Rafah, in which more than 1 million Palestinians fled Israeli attacks.

Earlier this month, the Israeli military issued an order to relocate Palestinians who were there to Al-Mawasi.

However, human rights agencies say the conditions in the coastal city are not suitable to live in.

It is reported that 360,000 people have fled the region without safety guarantees, according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.