United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog that the US cannot support Israel's operation in the south Gazan city of Rafah "without a credible and implementable plan for ensuring the safety of the more than one million people sheltering there."
Blinken and Herzog met on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference and discussed efforts to secure the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and achieve a humanitarian pause in Gaza to facilitate the supply of humanitarian aid. Blinken also "emphasized the need for all parties to take feasible measures to protect civilian lives and prevent the conflict from expanding," according to the State Department.