The U.S. does not believe Israel's latest actions in Rafah have crossed the American red line, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
Mr Kirby told reporters that the US was not “turning a blind eye” to the suffering of Palestinians. His comments came just hours after Israeli tanks were spotted in the center of Gaza's southernmost city.
US President Joe Biden warned Israel against launching a major military operation in Rafah, but his administration insisted on Tuesday that the Israeli army had not yet crossed the red lines.
“We did not see them collide with Rafah,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
Biden said earlier this month that he would limit arms supplies to Israel if it entered Rafah's “population centers,” where hundreds of thousands of civilians are said to still be sheltering.
Israel has drawn international condemnation for an airstrike and fire in an area full of refugee tents. At least 45 Palestinians – many of them women, children or the elderly – were killed in a camp for displaced people, according to Gaza health authorities.
Israel has said the attack targeted two senior Hamas officials and that it believes the fire could have been caused by an explosion at a Hamas weapons depot nearby.
“The Israelis have said this is a tragic mistake,” Kirby said.
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