Netanyahu brushes aside Blinken's plea on planned Rafah invasion

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has once again left the Middle East empty-handed as Israel's hawkish prime minister rejected American appeals to call off a planned ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which is overflowing with displaced civilians.

The tough message from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday sets the stage for potentially difficult talks next week in Washington between top US officials and a high-level Israeli delegation.

Netanyahu said Israel is ready to "do it alone" in Rafah if necessary.

Despite their differences, the Biden administration has continued to provide weapons and diplomatic support, even as Israel has killed more than 32,000 people in Gaza, 70 percent of them women and minors, and led to a worsening humanitarian crisis.

Netanyahu said he told Blinken that Israel is working on ways to expel civilians from combat zones and to address the humanitarian needs of Gaza, where international aid officials say the entire population is suffering from food insecurity and starvation is imminent in the hard-hit north.

"I also said that we have no way to defeat Hamas without entering Rafah," Netanyahu said.

"I told him that I hoped we would do this with US support, but if necessary, we would do it alone."

Blinken, wrapping up his sixth visit to the Middle East since the war broke out, told reporters that the US shares Israel's goal of defeating Hamas.

"But a major ground operation in Rafah is not, in our judgment, the way to achieve it, and we were very clear about that," he said, adding that Israel faces growing isolation if it presses ahead.

The looming Rafah invasion has cast a shadow over ongoing efforts to forge a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

US-Israel soured relations

The US initially sided strongly with Israel after the October 7. But relations have increasingly soured as the war drags on into its fifth month with Palestinian death toll soaring and US President Joe Biden risking voter backlash during election time.

The US position on a Rafah invasion shifted in recent days. Officials had called for a plan to get civilians out of harm's way.

Now, they say there is no credible way to do that.

"It risks killing more civilians. It risks wreaking greater havoc with the provision of humanitarian assistance. It risks further isolating Israel around the world and jeopardising its long-term security and standing," Blinken said.

US officials say other options, including specifically targeted attacks against known Hamas fighters and commanders, are the only way to avoid a civilian catastrophe.

Roughly three-quarters of Gaza's 2.3 million people have fled into Rafah, the farthest south they can go before the Egyptian border. Sprawling tent camps now dot the city.

Israel has killed at least 32,070 people and wounded 74,298 others so far in the blockaded enclave.

The US will share its ideas for alternatives at next week's meetings when a delegation led by Netanyahu's national security adviser and a member of Israel's War Cabinet heads to Washington.

Israel's defence minister, another member of the War Cabinet, will also visit.

Blinken said talks would focus on post-war plans, another area of disagreement.

The US wants the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority to take power in Gaza, along with a clear path toward an independent Palestinian state beside Israel.

Netanyahu rejects Palestinian independence or a role for the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the occupied West Bank, and says Israel must reoccupy Gaza.

Hamas hails vetoed US resolution

At the United Nations, Russia and China vetoed a US-sponsored UN resolution supporting "an immediate and sustained ceasefire" in besieged Gaza.

The two countries called the measure ambiguous and said it was not the direct demand to end the fighting that much of the world seeks.

The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 11 members in favour and three against — including Algeria, the Arab representative on the council. Guyana abstained.

A key issue was the unusual language that said the Security Council "determines the imperative of an immediate and sustained ceasefire."

The phrasing was not a straightforward "demand" or "call" to halt Israel's genocide.

"We appreciate the stance of Russia, China, and Algeria, who rejected the US draft resolution that is biased to the [Israeli] aggression on our [Palestinian people," Hamas said in a statement.

Hamas said the US resolution used "misleading wording" and was complicit with Israeli goals to continue its aggression on Gaza, and tried to give Israel "cover and legitimacy to the genocidal war against our Palestinian people in Gaza."