US Foreign Minister Blinken Says Israel Has No Kredible Plans To Protect Civilians In Rafah

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken while attending a meeting with Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and PLO. (Twitter/@SecBlinken)

JAKARTA - Israel has no "credible plans" to protect about 1.4 million Palestinian civilians in Rafah, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday, warning an Israeli attack could create an uprising for failing to kill all Hamas militants in southern Gaza.

"Israel is on a path that has the potential to inherit the uprising with the number of Hamas armed fighters remaining, or if Israel leaves a void filled with chaos, filled with anarchy and possibly occupied by Hamas," Foreign Minister Blinken said at NBC's 'Meet the Press' event.

Hamas fighters, he said, returned to the northern region of Gaza which Israel claimed had cleared, and attacks on the Rafah "risked to cause heavy losses to civilians" without ending Hamas' presence.

President Joe Biden is known to have decided to stop sending bombs to Israel, due to concerns over the large number of civilian casualties in Rafah, while a US State Department report says Israel may have violated international law with weapons supplied to Uncle Sam's country.

The report, which is not linked to bomb shipments, found no specific violations justifying US military aid refusal, and said war chaos was blocking verification of alleged individual offenses.

Defending a suspension of a supply of 3,500 bombs weighing 2,000 pounds and 500 pounds, Foreign Minister Blinken said Israel had no "credible plans" to protect about 1.4 million civilians sheltering in Rafah.

Told CBS Foreign Minister Blinken it was the only suspension of US weapons packages. However, that could change if Israel launched a massive attack on Rafah.

If Israel "launches massive military operations to Rafah, then there are certain systems that we will not support and supply for the operation," Foreign Minister Blinken said.

Israel needs to "have clear and credible plans to protect civilians, something we have never seen before," he said.

It is known that most of the 1.4 million Palestinians in Rafah fled elsewhere due to Israeli fighting and bombings that have destroyed the coastal enclave.

Israel has also not developed any postwar plans for Gaza's security, governance and reconstruction, Foreign Minister Blinken said, adding the US was working on the plan with Arab governments and other countries.

"We have the same goal as Israel. We want to ensure that Hamas cannot rule Gaza anymore," he said, adding the United States had discussed with Israel about "an more effective and long-lasting way" to demilitate Gaza and find Hamas leaders.

It is known that Israel's planned invasion of Rafah sparked the deepest tension in the relationship between Israel and its main allies over generations.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan delivered President Joe Biden's "old concern" plans for a massive Israeli attack on Rafah in a telephone conversation on Sunday with his counterpart from Israel, Tzachi Hanegbi, a White House statement said.

Sullivan also discussed alternative measures to ensure Hamas defeat anywhere in Gaza, while Hanegbi stressed Israel was considering US concerns, he said without elaborating.