The United States will find a way to convey to Israel its “concern” about an Israeli military operation in Rafah, after an Israeli delegation’s visit to Washington was canceled in protest at a UN resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Israel canceled the visit because the US abstained from voting in the Security Council, instead of vetoing it as it has so far done in previous resolutions.

“I’m sure we will find other means to convey our concerns to them,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters, calling the decision to cancel the visit “surprise and unfortunate.” He added that Foreign Secretary Anthony Blinken would likely discuss the Rafah issue with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallad, whose separate visit to Washington was not cancelled. White House spokesman John Kirby confirmed that Gallant will meet with his American counterpart, Lloyd Austin, on Tuesday.

“We believe that this kind of invasion on a large scale would be wrong, and not just because of the enormous risk to civilians,” Miller said.

According to the spokesman, the Israeli government has not presented a coherent plan to remove 1.4 million people from Rafah. Most of them fled there to escape the shelling of the northern Gaza Strip.

“This kind of invasion would weaken Israel’s security” and “damage its standing in the world,” Miller insisted.

Kirby, for his part, said Washington has no indication, nor has he seen, of any plan to invade Rafa within the next few days.

Earlier, a US official who spoke anonymously to a group of reporters said that issues of domestic political tension likely led Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the decision not to send a delegation to Washington for talks. He said that President Joe Biden did not intend to speak to Netanyahu on the phone about the matter and that Netanyahu had not informed him in advance of his decision.