A video conference will be held today between high-ranking officials Israeli and American officials to discuss alternative proposals of the Biden administration in an Israeli military incursion into Rafah in the Gaza Strip, the White House announced, a week after Israel canceled a delegation visit to Washington.

White House spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre said that the United States has made known its concerns about any large-scale operation in Rafah, tthe last relatively safe haven for more than a million Palestinian displaced citizens.

“If they’re going to go ahead with a military operation, we have to have that conversation,” said Jean-Pierre. “We have to figure out how they’re going to proceed.”

The spokeswoman said national security adviser Jake Sullivan will lead talks on Rafa on behalf of the US side.

“The meeting is scheduled for today online. There will probably be a live meeting later in the week.” a source who asked not to be named told AFP, clarifying that others are planned “meetings for life”.

The announcement by Israel of the upcoming attack on Rafah, a city in the southern part of the Gaza Strip where 1.5 million Palestinians, most of them displaced, are crowded, caused great concern among the international community.

The point is to “to understand what their plans are for any operation in Rafah, to understand how they will move or conduct operations (in a territory) with a very high population density, over a million people”Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said at a press briefing.

The spokeswoman did not confirm the Defense Department’s involvement in the talks, but a US official said that the head of American diplomacy Anthony Blinken is expected to take part in it.

Israel had decided not to send a delegation to Washington as planned to discuss its plan to attack Rafah, after the US abstained in a UN Security Council vote on March 25 that allowed the first-ever approval of a resolution that calls for an immediate “ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip, more than five months after the start of the Israeli offensive.

The US, Israel’s main ally, opposes any large-scale ground attack on Rafah. President Joe Biden had asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to send a delegation to Washington for consultations on Israel’s Rafah plans.