After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday vowed to go it alone in Gaza despite the Biden White House’s ‘red line’ on storming the last-standing terrorist stronghold of Rafah, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has threatened Israel with “consequences” for going ahead with the planned counter-terrorist operation.

Harris’s claim is unfounded. Netanyahu assured on Friday that his government understands “the need to evacuate the civilian population from the war zones and of course also take care of the humanitarian needs and we are working to that end.”

Last week, the Israeli prime minister okayed a military plan which included an orderly evacuation of civilians from Rafah.