Secretary of State Antony Blinken has raised US opposition to a major ground operation in Rafah with Israel’s defence minister, after a delegation to discuss Washington’s concerns was scrapped earlier on Monday, AFP reports.

In his meeting with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in Washington, Blinken reiterated US “opposition to a major ground operation in Rafah,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Such a move “would further jeopardise the welfare of the more than 1.4 million Palestinian civilians sheltering there,” Miller said.

Blinken “underscored that alternatives exist to a major ground invasion that would both better ensure Israel’s security and protect Palestinian civilians,” Miller said.

The two additionally “discussed the need to immediately surge and sustain additional humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of civilians in Gaza,” he added.

Israel said earlier in the day that the United States’ abstention “hurts” both its war effort and attempts to release hostages. It was “a clear retreat from the consistent position of the US”, Netanyahu’s office said.