United States officials met Israeli counterparts to outline their concerns about the situation in the embattled city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and an expected military offensive there, the White House confirmed on Thursday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to launch an Israeli ground assault against Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, which is now packed with hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who fled Israeli attacks elsewhere in the territory. The US, Germany and other Israeli allies have been urging restraint instead and warning against the fallout from…