US Secretary of State Blinken is currently touring various countries in the Middle East. He is urging Israel to consider alternatives to ground operations in order to avoid escalating the humanitarian crisis.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains prepared to carry out a ground operation to Rafah, where nearly 1.5 million people, including evacuees, live. The EU will hold a summit meeting in Belgium for two days from the 21st to exchange opinions on the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has claimed that Israel is arbitrarily refusing to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza strip.