Senior officials from the United States and Israel held a virtual meeting on Monday to discuss alternatives to a full-scale invasion of Rafah as the Biden administration seeks to dissuade the Israeli government from undertaking a significant military operation in the beleaguered Gazan city.

Prior to the meeting commencing, a US official said Biden administration representatives would be focused on stressing “alternative ways” they believe Israel can achieve its goal of dismantling Hamas, without launching an full-scale incursion into Rafah, where more than one million hungry Palestinians are sheltering with nowhere to run.

Monday’s meeting was scheduled to last two hours, an Israeli official told CNN. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security advisor Jake Sullivan were among the high-level US representatives, while the national security advisor for Israel, Tzachi Hanegbi and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer were expected to lead the Israeli delegation.

The Israeli official said that representatives from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and other Israeli security services were slated to attend.

A meeting previously scheduled for last week was called off by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the United States declined to block a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages held captive by Hamas - signs of the ever-simmering tension between Israel and its most powerful ally.

Both sides are still working toward an in-person meeting at some point in the future, an official said. Pentagon officials shared some of their alternatives for Rafah with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant when he was in town last week.

Netanyahu has said he is undeterred by the Biden administration’s opposition to an invasion of Rafah. He told members of Congress last week that Israel has “no choice” but to move into Rafah - saying Israel’s “very existence is on the line.” Netanyahu told the delegation that displaced Palestinians remaining in Rafah could “just move.”

The meeting came as both Israelis and Americans are showing increasing displeasure with how their respective governments are handling the conflict in Gaza.

Thousands of Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem over the weekend calling for Netanyahu’s ouster - the largest protests in the country since the October 7 attacks by Hamas, while recent events held by Biden, including last week’s high-powered fundraiser in New York with former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, have repeatedly been beset by pro-Palestinian protesters.

After his remarks in New York were interrupted, Biden said “there are too many innocent victims - Israeli and Palestinians.” But he added: “you can’t forget that Israel is in a position where its very existence is at stake.”

Still, Biden said, “we must, in fact, stop the effort … that is resulting in significant deaths of innocent civilians, and particularly, children.”

Biden’s advisers have for weeks been weighing various options for what the US response to a Rafah invasion should be. Officials have warned Israel that it risks becoming an international pariah if the invasion, which US officials say would result in a humanitarian catastrophe, commences.

Vice President Kamala Harris left the door open last week for unspecified consequences for Israel if it decides to proceed.

More than 32,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, the region’s health ministry reported.