Israel must not conduct a “major ground operation” against Hamas battalions in Rafah, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned this week.

“A major ground operation Rafa would be a mistake,” Blinken told reporters in Cairo. “It’s something that we can’t support. There is no place for the many civilians who are massed in [Rafah] to go to get out of harm’s way. And for those that would inevitably remain, it will be a humanitarian disaster.”