WASHINGTON – US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed concern to lawmakers in Congress on Tuesday that Israel is not moving fast enough to set up safe havens for civilians expected to be evacuated from Rafah ahead of an anticipated invasion.

Austin on Tuesday told members of the House Armed Services Committee that Israel has a plan to evacuate civilians from the southern Gaza enclave but that he remained primarily concerned about “lack of execution.”

“They have a plan. The question is, can you execute — are you executing the plan, and how much time are you allocating for it?” Austin said in response to questioning from Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.).

Earlier in the exchange, Austin answered in the affirmative when Khanna asked whether an evacuation of Rafah was “conceivable” and whether the US defense chief would hypothetically be able to come up with his own plan for such an operation.

“I could. But it takes time,” replied Austin, who, as four-star CENTCOM commander, oversaw the 2010 US withdrawal from Iraq.

Why it matters: Washington is withholding its green-light for an Israeli military invasion of Rafah until Israel takes further steps to prepare for the safe evacuation of the majority of the area’s civilian inhabitants.

An estimated 1.4 million people — more than half of the entire population of the Gaza Strip — remain crammed in Rafah near Gaza’s southern border with Egypt. The area has become a final refuge for those fleeing Israel’s massively destructive war against Hamas.

“If you’re going to conduct operations, then those civilians must be accounted for and hopefully moved out of the area,” Austin told House lawmakers........

© Al Monitor