US offers Israel intel on Hamas leaders for pledge to hold back on Rafah

The Biden administration has been in tense talks with Israel in a bid to avoid a full-scale invasion of Rafah, the last city in Gaza to be spared the Israeli military's offensive campaign.

The U.S. has offered Israel sensitive intelligence and supplies if the country agrees to scale back a planned invasion of Rafah, according to a report from the Washington Post.

The intelligence the U.S. is offering would allow Israel to better pinpoint Hamas leaders hidden in tunnels around the city, making it possible for the Israeli military to engage in a more precise campaign that could avoid the devastation seen in other areas of Gaza throughout the conflict.

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The U.S. is also offering to provide thousands of shelters that would allow Israel to build tent cities, the report notes, and help create the delivery systems for food, medicine and water that would be needed to give the thousands of refugees that would flee the city more livable conditions.

The report comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to invade Rafah with "extreme force," a situation the U.S. would like to see avoided as President Biden balances support for the longtime U.S. ally with domestic pressure to draw a red line regarding Israel's current conduct in the conflict.

Rafah is the last city in Gaza that has not faced the devastation of the war, with Israel arguing an invasion is needed to finish off the last pockets of resistance from Hamas. But destroying the city's complex system of tunnels would likely put thousands of civilians in danger, causing the U.S. to push for Israel to implement an evacuation plan of the city before launching its campaign.

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