United States officials have met Israeli leaders to discuss the situation in the embattled city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby confirmed on Thursday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to launch an Israeli ground assault against Rafah, which is now packed with hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who fled Israeli attacks elsewhere in the Gaza Strip. The US, Germany and other Israeli allies have been urging restraint instead and warning against the fallout from a direct attack on the city, which is located on the …