US State Dept: Israel Close To End Of Major Combat Ops In Rafah

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has told reporters that Secretary of State Antony Blinken will stress to Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant today the, "importance of Israel developing "robust, realistic" plans for post-war Gaza," per Reuters.

• Miller says: "Blinken [will] also emphasize need to avoid further escalation of Gaza conflict and need to improve humanitarian access."
• Miller also confirms: "Israel told us that they are getting close to an end to major combat operations in Rafah."
• The BBC noted yesterday: "In his first Israeli media interview since the start of the war in October, Benjamin Netanyahu said he expected the ground operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah to be completed soon. But he stressed that “doesn’t mean the war is about to end”, with action continuing until Hamas was completely driven from power."
• Miller also appears to confirm that the US will continue to support Israel in the event of a full-blown war with Lebanon-based Hezbollah: "US continues to meet its statutory obligation to ensure that Israel remains a qualitative military edge over other countries in the region."
• Earlier today, Netanyahu appeared to reaffirm his commitment to a US-back hostage-for-ceasefire deal, potentially removing one major source of tensions between the US and Israel ahead of Gallant's trip to Washington.