Biden summons Israeli team to stop Rafah assault
o Links immediate ceasefire to release of hostages
US President Joe Biden said he had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to send a team to Washington to discuss how to avoid an all-out assault in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
The move is one of the clearest attempts yet by Biden to rein in the key US ally, amid fears that the huge death toll and humanitarian crisis in Gaza could be drastically worsened by a full attack on Rafah.
The White House said separately that Israel had killed one of Hamas’s top commanders in a strike in Gaza.
“I asked the Prime Minister to send a team to Washington to discuss ways to target Hamas without a major ground operation in Rafah,” Biden said on X after speaking to Netanyahu for the first time in more than a month.
Biden also “reiterated the need for an immediate ceasefire as part of a deal to free hostages, lasting several weeks, so we can get hostages home and surge aid to civilians in Gaza.”
Roughly 1.5 million people are sheltering in Rafah, most of them displaced by Israel’s relentless assault on other parts of Gaza since the Oct 7 attack.
The White House earlier said Biden had warned Netanyahu that an offensive would be a “mistake”, in their first call since Feb 15.
“A major ground operation would be a mistake,” said National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
“It would lead to more innocent civilian deaths, worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen the anarchy in Gaza, and further isolate Israel internationally.”
Netanyahu agreed to send a team of senior Israeli officials to Washington to discuss “alternative approaches that would target key elements of Hamas”, he added.
Sullivan confirmed that Israel had killed Hamas’s third-incommand, Marwan Issa, in an operation last week. Israel previously said he had been targeted in a Gaza airstrike but did not confirm his death.
Biden has supported Israel since the Oct 7 attacks, sending billions of dollars in military aid, but has become increasingly frustrated by Netanyahu’s failure to curb civilian deaths or let in vital aid.
The US president also faces growing political pressure at home, with opposition among ArabAmericans and young voters posing a risk to his reelection chances.
Netanyahu said he had reiterated “Israel’s commitment to achieving all of the war’s objectives”.