US officials told ToI that the meeting next week with a visiting Israeli delegation would be used to discuss viable alternatives to a massive ground assault in crowded south Gaza City.

Two senior US officials said to The Times of Israel that the US would present alternative plans on how Israel could continue its pursuit of Hamas while avoiding a major ground campaign in Rafah at a meeting with an Israeli delegation visiting Washington.

One of the senior US officials, who spoke to The Times of Israel under condition of anonymity, said: “This isn’t us telling you, ‘No, you can’t do it.’ We’re saying we’re willing work with you to find viable alternatives that will still help you reach your objectives.”

Jake Sullivan, the US National Security Adviser, touched on this concept on Monday. He announced that US President Joe Biden had asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their earlier phone call to send an Inter-Agency team to Washington to “hear US concerns about Israel’s current Rafah plans and to lay down an alternative approach which would target key Hamas components in Rafah while securing the Egypt-Gaza Border without a major land invasion.”

A second senior US official elaborated on the alternative strategy the Biden administration is considering, saying that Washington envisages Israel focusing on preventing the smuggling weapons from Egypt to Gaza via the Philadelphi Corridor.

The official avoided blaming Egypt for smuggling, which was partly responsible for Hamas’s recent re-armament during successive wars with Israel in the last 15 years. They said that a new agreement with Cairo, and the building of the infrastructure necessary to stop the smuggling routes would be more important to dismantling Hamas than an offensive on the ground in Rafah.

The second official stated that “if Israel slams into Rafah, with all of the civilian deaths this would bring about, Egypt’s cooperation in locking down the [Philadelphi] Corridor is going to be more difficult.”

First official clarified US opposition to major Rafah invasion does not mean that it is against more targeted operations targeting Hamas leadership, whether in Rafah and elsewhere. He said the alternative plans that Biden administration will present to the Israeli delegation visiting the US will also focus on this objective.

US officials also see Israel implementing a massive humanitarian push in the near future, they said. This was two days after a UN-backed study warned that famine could be imminent in the northern Gaza Strip.

Senior US official stated that this would require Israel to open more ground routes in Gaza to deliver assistance to the north. Around 300,000 Palestinians are practically cut off from help after refusing to comply with IDF evacuation orders at the start of the war. Israel and Hamas have been at war for almost six months. The conflict was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2014 massacre in which thousands of terrorists murdered 1,200 people, and 253 were taken hostage during a murderous spree across southern Israel.

The US official said that any operation in Rafah, let alone the massive invasion Washington opposes, will require a much more stable humanitarian environment in Gaza.

The southern Gaza city became a hub for humanitarian aid in the last few months. They also noted that other areas will need to establish new storage and distribution systems.

The number of aid trucks coming into Gaza from the yet-to-be-established maritime corridor from Cyprus along with other routes into the Strip will need to be significantly scaled up, to figures not seen since before the war when 500 trucks entered each day, the senior official said. The senior official said that this is not going to happen anytime soon, not even when we are in the middle a famine.

Last week, the US sent a ship to Gaza City with supplies to construct a temporary pier. The project could take two months.

First senior US official stated that the alternative plans the US would like to discuss with visiting Israeli delegation include efforts to start the reconstruction of Gaza as well as to build up an alternative to Hamas.

The US and the international community have reacted with skepticism to this idea, as they want a PA that has undergone reforms to govern the Strip.

Both US officials made it clear that Biden’s administration does not ignore the four remaining Hamas Battalions in Rafah, but that Netanyahu has overstated their importance and strength to defeat Hamas.

The first US official stated that “we don’t want Hamas there to have a haven, but this situation is not possible.”

Officials credited Israel with taking steps in the last couple of weeks to ease the humanitarian crisis. However, one official said that the situation may worsen again if Jerusalem doesn’t implement a “non scorched earth strategy” for pursuing Hamas.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu’s office announced the appointment of two of the premier’s most trusted aides: Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, and National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanigbi to lead the Israeli delegation to Washington. COGAT, an IDF unit that coordinates aid to the Gaza Strip will be sending a representative.

The statement read: “The Prime Minister stressed that he was determined to operate at Rafah to eliminate the Hamas battalions for good while providing humanitarian solutions to civilians.”

Karine Jean Pierre, spokesperson for the White House, said that it is likely that this meeting will take place in early next week.

A US defense official confirmed that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would host Defense Minister Yoav Galant for a bilateral discussion at the US Defense Department next week.

Netanyahu also told the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the Knesset on Tuesday that the IDF would enter Rafah and he had told Biden the same thing in their conversation on Monday.

According to a press release from his office, “We disagree with the Americans on the necessity of entering Rafah.” Netanyahu stated. “Not the need for Hamas to be eliminated — but the need to enter Rafah. We don’t see how to eliminate Hamas without destroying the remaining battalions. We will do it. “

Jake Sul reports that during Biden’s call with Netanyahu, he effectively ruled out the possibility of a major Israeli offensive on the ground in Rafah.