U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday emphasized the importance of protecting civilians during the Israel Defense Forces’ upcoming Rafah operation but stopped short of suggesting any American intervention.

“Any military campaign, military operation, that Israel undertakes, needs to put civilians first and foremost in mind,” said Blinken at a press conference in Tel Aviv. “This is especially true in the case of Rafah where there are somewhere between 1.2 and 1.4 million people, many of them displaced from other parts of Gaza.”

Rafah lies on the southern border with Egypt and is home to an estimated 1 million civilian war refugees. As talks of an impending Israeli offensive intensified, the fragile relationship Israel has with Egypt could be in peril if an aggressive ground campaign forces the sheltering civilians across the border, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

"We are continuing this operation, and we will also reach the places where we have not yet fought in the central and southern strip and especially the last center of gravity left in Hamas' hands: Rafah," Gallant said in a news conference on Monday, the Journal reported. Gallant did not provide a strategy or a time frame for when the offensive might occur.

As the war in Gaza enters its fifth month, the Biden administration is desperate for some signs of reprieve in the bloodshed.

Earlier Wednesday, Netanyahu rejected Hamas' terms for a cease-fire as the war in Gaza entered its fifth month, calling them "delusional." Among the terms were for Israel to release thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Speaking on a nationally televised news conference Wednesday, Netanyahu said, "Surrendering to Hamas' delusional demands that we heard now not only won't lead to freeing the captives, it will just invite another massacre."

"We are on the way to an absolute victory," Netanyahu said, adding that the operation would last months, not years. "There is no other solution."

Sources: JNS/Newsmax