Blinken Meets With Netanyahu as U.S.-Israel Tensions Rise

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken warned during a visit to Israel on Friday that the country’s plans to press ahead with an invasion of Rafah risked isolating the country, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued to resist U.S. calls for restraint.

The Biden administration was accelerating efforts to halt the Gaza war as Mr. Blinken met with Israeli leaders in Tel Aviv and the C.I.A. director traveled to Qatar, where mediators were trying to narrow gaps between Israel and Hamas over a cease-fire deal that would free Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

Mr. Blinken met with Mr. Netanyahu and with members of Israel’s war cabinet at a time of high tension between the allies. U.S. officials have grown more vocal in criticizing Mr. Netanyahu’s war strategy, including his plan to mount a military offensive in Rafah, the southern Gazan city packed with displaced civilians.

But the Biden administration has stopped short of placing restrictions on military aid to Israel. Although it backed a U.N. Security Council resolution on Friday calling for an immediate cease-fire — a measure that failed to pass — it has also not demanded a permanent stop to Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.

In a statement after their meeting, Mr. Netanyahu said that he had repeated to Mr. Blinken that Israel recognized the need to protect civilians and ensure humanitarian aid for Gaza but was determined to send troops into Rafah, where well-organized Hamas forces remain.

“We have no way to defeat Hamas without going into Rafah and eliminating the rest of the battalions there,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “And I told him that I hope we will do it with the support of the U.S. But if we must — we will do it alone.”

At a news conference after the meeting, Mr. Blinken warned against a major military operation in Rafah.

“It risks further isolating Israel around the world and jeopardizing its long-term security and standing,” he said, adding that U.S. officials were looking forward to meeting with Israeli officials in Washington next week “to talk about a different way of achieving those objectives.”

At the request of President Biden, Mr. Netanyahu agreed on Monday to send a team of officials to Washington to discuss alternatives to an invasion, which Biden officials say could include targeted operations that would be less destructive than a major ground operation.

A member of Mr. Netanyahu’s war cabinet, Benny Gantz, said in a statement that he thanked Mr. Blinken “for his support for Israel and the deep American commitment to its security.” But Mr. Gantz — a longtime political rival of Mr. Netanyahu’s who crossed parliamentary lines to join his wartime government — said he had emphasized that Israel must “dismantle Hamas’s military infrastructure, including in Rafah.”

The secretary of state was making the last stop of a multi-leg Middle East tour, his sixth since the war began in October. At the same time, a U.S. official said, William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, was traveling to Qatar to join talks aimed at reaching a deal between Israel and Hamas that would begin a time-limited cease-fire and exchange of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

Speaking to reporters in Cairo on Thursday, Mr. Blinken said that gaps between the Hamas and Israeli negotiating positions were “narrowing” but that striking a deal would be difficult.

He also reiterated the U.S. position that Israel must ensure more humanitarian aid reaches desperate Gazans at risk of starvation, while saying that Israel had taken positive steps in recent weeks to allow the aid to flow.

After meeting with Mr. Netanyahu and members of the security cabinet on Friday, Mr. Blinken met privately with the families of the Israeli-American hostages. The Hostages Families Forum, which represents the captives’ relatives, issued a statement expressing “sincere gratitude” to Mr. Blinken and the Biden administration for their support.

Emerging from the meeting at a Tel Aviv hotel, Mr. Blinken took an unplanned walk outside to greet friendly demonstrators calling for the hostages’ release. The group of a few dozen people waved both Israeli and American flags along with photos of hostages and signs calling for their release. “Thank you, Blinken. Thank you Biden,” they chanted.

“We’re working to bring them home,” Mr. Blinken said, shaking several hands quickly before departing in his motorcade.