White House press briefing: Watch live
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will deliver a daily press briefing Friday afternoon.
The Biden administration was unable to persuade Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from a planned military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, despite the recent visit from Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
An influx of civilian refugees has swelled Rafah’s population from less than 300,000 to well more than 1 million.
Israeli leaders say Hamas is using the city’s residents and displaced people as a human shield and an incursion is necessary to defeat the terrorist organization.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military is continuing operations to build a pier enabling aid shipments to reach Gaza by sea.
The briefing is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. EDT.
Watch the live video above.