Blinken meets Netanyahu in push for more aid deliveries as Gaza teeters on brink of famine

US secretary of state Antony Blinken met with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Friday amid growing tension between the two close allies over the conduct of Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

Mr Blinken has spent days travelling the region in an attempt to broker a new ceasefire in Gaza, some six months into the devastating war. He met with Israelis leaders on Friday to urge them not to launch a ground attack on the city of Rafah and to do more to allow humanitarian aid to enter the territory.

The visit comes at a particularly tense period for US-Israel relations, as gaps between the two historic allies have emerged over Israel’s devastating war against Hamas.

In recent weeks, the Biden administration has publicly called for Israel to rethink its plan to invade the city of Rafah, where more than one million Palestinians are sheltering after being displaced from across the territory.

Mr Netanyahu has baulked at the suggestions, however, and said following his meeting with Mr Blinken that he remained committed to launching an operation in the city.

“I also said that we have no way to defeat Hamas without going into Rafah and eliminating the rest of the battalions there. And I told him that I hope we will do it with the support of the US, but if we have to — we will do it alone,” he said in a video statement to reporters.

Mr Blinken said ahead of the meeting that he would urge Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into the territory after a United Nations report warned that widespread famine was “imminent” in northern Gaza, and a “major acceleration of death” would follow if an immediate ceasefire is not reached.

“A hundred percent of the population of Gaza is experiencing severe levels of acute food