A little more than a month ago, President Joe Biden very publicly and explicitly identified the point that he would not allow Israel’s war on Gaza to reach: an offensive on the city of Rafah, where 1.4 million Palestinians had been corralled after months of war.

“It is a red line,” he told MSNBC when asked about a potential Israeli invasion of Rafah.

Though he instantly tried to wriggle out of the commitment he had just made, the headlines the statement produced ensured that the public’s main takeaway was that this was where the president was finally putting his foot down.