Netanyahu OKs Rafah talks with Biden’s team in States
WASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed Monday to send a team of Israeli officials to Washington to discuss a prospective Rafah operation with Biden administration officials, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.
The agreement to hold talks about Rafah came as President Joe Biden and Netanyahu spoke Monday, their first interaction in more than a month, as the divide has grown between allies over the food crisis in Gaza and Israel’s conduct during the war, according to the White House.
Sullivan said the talks will happen in the coming days and are expected to involve military, intelligence and humanitarian experts.
The White House has been skeptical of Netanyahu’s plan to carry out an operation in the southern city of Rafah, where about 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, as Israel looks to eliminate Hamas after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel in a surprise attack Oct. 7 that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Around 250 people were taken hostage.
Israel responded with one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history. The war has killed more than 31,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Around 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have fled their homes, and a quarter of the population faces starvation.
Sullivan said Biden questioned the Israeli leader over a lack of a “coherent and sustainable strategy’ to defeat Hamas.
The Biden-Netanyahu call comes after Republicans
in Washington and Israeli officials were quick to express outrage after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sharply criticized Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza and called for Israel to hold new elections. They accused the Democratic leader of breaking the unwritten rule against interfering in a close ally’s electoral politics.
Biden hasn’t endorsed Schumer’s call for election but said he thought he gave a “good speech” that reflected the concerns of many Americans. Netanyahu raised concerns about the calls by Schumer for new elections, Sullivan said.
Biden administration officials have warned that they would not support an operation in Rafah without the Israelis presenting a credible plan to ensure the safety of innocent Palestinian civilians.
Israel has yet to present such a plan, according to White House officials.
In a statement after the call, Netanyahu made no direct mention of the tension.
“We discussed the latest developments in the war, including Israel’s commitment to achieving all of the war’s goals: eliminating Hamas, freeing all of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza never (again)
constitutes a threat to Israel — while providing the necessary humanitarian aid that will assist in achieving these goals,” he said.
The Biden-Netanyahu call also comes as the United Nations food agency issued more dire warnings Monday about the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
The World Food Program warned that “famine is imminent” in northern Gaza, where 70% of the remaining population is experiencing catastrophic hunger, and a further escalation of the war could push around half of Gaza’s population to the brink of starvation.
Sullivan called the report “alarming.”
On Sunday, Netanyahu lashed out against the American criticism, describing calls for a new election as “wholly inappropriate.”
“We’re not a banana republic,” he said. “The people of Israel will choose when they will have elections, and who they’ll elect.”
The president announced during his State of the Union address this month that the U.S. military would help establish a temporary pier aimed at boosting the amount of aid getting into Gaza. The U.S. military has also been air-dropping aid into the territory.