Biden speaks with Netanyahu, urges him not to launch o ensive in Rafah
News of Hamas’s nod for truce comes hours after Tel Aviv ordered 1,00,000 Palestinians to begin evacuating Rafah; White House waiting to learn more about the Hamas position on whether it agreed to existing terms or something else
Associated Press
U.S. President Joe Biden again urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against launching an oensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah as Israel on Monday appeared to be moving closer to an oensive to root out Hamas militants.
But soon after Israel announced that it was ordering about 1,00,000 Palestinians to begin evacuating from Rafah, Hamas said in a statement it has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari proposal for a ceasere to halt the seven-month-long war with Israel in Gaza.
A U.S. o cial, who was not authorised to comment publicly and insisted on anonymity, cautioned that the White House was still waiting to learn more about the Hamas position and whether it reected an agreement to what had already been signed o on by Israel and international negotiators or to something else.
In recent days, Egyptian and Hamas o cials have said the ceasere would take place in a series of stages during which Hamas would release hostages it is holding in exchange for Israeli troop pullbacks from Gaza.
Top Biden administration o cials have been publicly pressing Hamas to accept what they have described as a generous oer by the Israelis that would also lead to an extended truce and the release of Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli prisons and perhaps lay the groundwork for a permanent end to the current conict.
The White House said Mr. Biden in a Monday morning phone call with Mr. Netanyahu underscored U.S. concerns about an invasion of Rafah, where more than 1 million civilians from other parts of Gaza are sheltering as the war sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel has led to the deaths of more than 34,000 Palestinians and deprivation in the territory.
Mr. Biden told Mr. Netanyahu that he still believes reaching a ceasere with Hamas is the best way to protect the lives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, o cials said.
“The President reiterated his clear position on Rafah,” according to a White House summary of the call.
The latest developments come as Mr. Biden was hosting King Abdullah II of Jordan for a private lunch at the White House on Monday to discuss the war and hostage talks.
On Sunday, Mr. Netanyahu rejected international pressure to halt the war in Gaza in a ery speech marking the country’s annual Holocaust memorial day, declaring: “If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone.”
“I say to the leaders of the world: No amount of pressure will stop Israel from defending itself,” he said, speaking in English.
Agence France-Presse
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered nuclear weapons drills near Ukraine, Moscow said on Monday, in response to “threats” from Western ofcials to deploy NATO troops to Ukraine.
The announcement came as Russian forces said they captured two villages in the war-battered regions of Donetsk and Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, where outgunned and outmanned Ukrainian troops have struggled to hold the line.
Russian o cials in the border region of Belgorod meanwhile announced that Ukrainian attack drones had killed six persons and wounded over 30, including several children.
Mr. Putin has upped his nuclear rhetoric since ordering his Army into Ukraine in 2022 for a ‘special military operation’, warning in February there was a “real” risk of nuclear war.
The Defence Ministry gave no date for the drills, but said they would involve the air force, navy and troops stationed near Ukraine.
The Kremlin specied that the exercises were a response to statements by French President Emmanuel Macron and British ofcials.
Russia has in recent days hit out at Mr. Macron for telling The Economist magazine he was “not ruling anything out” in the West’s response to the conict in Ukraine, including sending troops to the country.
It has also blasted U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron for saying Kyiv has the right to strike targets inside Russia.
‘Dangerous rhetoric’
“They are talking about the readiness and even the intention of sending armed contingents to Ukraine — that is, in fact, to put NATO soldiers in front of the Russian military,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“This is a completely new round of escalating tensions. It is unprecedented and requires special measures,” he added.