White House Says Deadly Strike In Rafah Wont Shift U.S. Policy Toward Israel

The White House said Tuesday it had no plans to change its policy toward Israel after an airstrike killed dozens of Palestinian civilians in Rafah this weekend.

It just happened, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said during a news briefing.The Israelis are going to investigate it. Were going to be taking great interest in what they find in that investigation. And well see where it goes from there.

CBS News' @edokeefe asks at White House press briefing about Israel's deadly explosion in Rafah: The whole area is densely populated. How does this not violate the red line that the president laid out?

John Kirby, WH National Security Council spokesperson: As I said, we dont pic.twitter.com/prshMWC7yW

CBS News (@CBSNews) May 28, 2024","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"CBS News","author_url":"https://twitter.com/CBSNews","cache_age":86400,"description":"CBS News' @edokeefe asks at White House press briefing about Israel's deadly explosion in Rafah: The whole area is densely populated. How does this not violate the red line that the president laid out?John Kirby, WH National Security Council spokesperson: As I said, we dont pic.twitter.com/prshMWC7yW CBS News (@CBSNews) May 28, 2024\n\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"CBS News on Twitter / X","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1795581844177527250","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"6656a23de4b0644fd94eacaf","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/white-house-biden-rafah-israel_n_6656a23de4b0644fd94eacaf","entryTagsList":"joe-biden,israel,gaza-strip,@us_huffpost_now","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"world-news,us-news","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/5634d67a-e7be-45ae-8c1c-823c1cb0361a/1_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":5},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"6656a23de4b0644fd94eacaf","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Joe Biden ","slug":"joe-biden","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/joe-biden","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/joe-biden","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/joe-biden"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Joe Biden","slug":"joe-biden","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/joe-biden"},{"name":"Israel","slug":"israel","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/israel","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/israel","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/israel"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"World News","slug":"world-news"},"topic":{"title":"Middle East","slug":"middle-east","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/middle-east"},{"name":" gaza strip","slug":"gaza-strip","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/gaza-strip","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/gaza-strip","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/gaza-strip"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"World News","slug":"world-news"},"topic":{"title":"Palestinian Territories","slug":"gaza","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/gaza"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">

CBS News' @edokeefe asks at White House press briefing about Israel's deadly explosion in Rafah: The whole area is densely populated. How does this not violate the red line that the president laid out?

John Kirby, WH National Security Council spokesperson: As I said, we dont pic.twitter.com/prshMWC7yW
CBS News (@CBSNews) May 28, 2024

The attack hit Palestinians who were sheltering in tents, fleeing violence amid Israels ongoing war with Hamas who believed they were in a so-called safe zone not under evacuation orders. Israel said later the target had been a Hamas compound and that it had used precise munitions in the attack. But Gazas health ministry said the strike sparked a deadly fire that killed at least 45 people and wounded nearly 250 others, including children.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday the strike was a tragic mishap , and while the White House said the killings were devastating, officials said Israel had not flouted President Joe Biden s warning from earlier this month.