White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the United States has made its concerns known about any major ground operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, the last relatively safe haven for more than 1 million displaced Palestinian civilians.
"If they are going to move forward with a military operation, we have to have this conversation," Jean-Pierre said at a briefing. "We have to understand how they're going to move forward."
She told reporters national security adviser Jake Sullivan would lead the discussions on the U.S. side.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called off a planned visit to Washington last week by a senior Israeli delegation after the U.S. allowed passage of a Gaza ceasefire resolution at the United Nations on Monday, marking a new war-time low in his relations with President Joe Biden.
Two days later Israel asked the White House to reschedule a high-level meeting on military plans for Rafah, officials said, in an apparent bid to ease tensions between the two allies.
The United States, concerned about a deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, wants Israel to consider alternatives to a ground invasion.
More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed, including 63 in the past 24 hours, in Israel's six-month military offensive in Gaza, according to the Palestinian health authorities.
Israel's retaliation began after an Oct. 7 attack in which Hamas militants breached the Israeli border to kill 1,200 people and take 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
The offensive has decimated parts of the small coastal enclave, including hits on hospitals and infrastructure, and has created severe food shortages among the largely displaced population.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Doina Chiacu, Chizu Nomiyama, Alexandra Hudson)
