Biden tells Netanyahu plan needed for civilian safety in Rafah

According to the White House, US President Joe Biden informed Israel’s prime minister that a military operation in Rafah should not take place without precautions to protect civilians.

During a phone conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr. Biden stated that Israel need a “credible and executable plan” in order to safeguard the city’s over a million residents.

International warnings over Israel’s imminent offensive are mounting.

A plan is being drafted, and Mr. Netanyahu has insisted that it will proceed.

The two presidents are speaking over the phone a few days after Mr. Biden said that Israel’s military actions in Gaza were “over the top”.

It also comes as a number of regional nations, international organisations, and allies of Israel have expressed increasing alarm about reports that Israeli troops may move into Rafah, which is the sole open entrance point for humanitarian aid and is located on the Egyptian border.

“Over half of Gaza’s population is sheltering in the area,” according to UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, while Saudi Arabia threatened “very serious repercussions” if Rafah was overrun.

According to the UN, the 1.5 million Palestinians seeking refuge in the city in the far south of the Strip have nowhere safe to go.

A large number of residents have previously been compelled to leave their homes elsewhere in Gaza at least once, due to orders from the Israeli Army.

The leaders of Hamas in the Gaza Strip warned that any action would potentially jeopardise negotiations for the potential release of Israeli hostages held there and suggested that there might be “tens of thousands” of casualties.

Following Mr. Netanyahu’s order for his soldiers to get ready to evacuate residents from the city in advance of a larger attack against Hamas, there were warnings about a possible escalation of conflict in Rafah.

The White House reports that during their conversation on Sunday, Mr. Biden “reaffirmed his view that a military operation in Rafah should not proceed without a credible and executable plan for ensuring the safety of and support for the more than one million people sheltering there.”

He restated that the US and Israel share the same objectives of eliminating Hamas and guaranteeing Israel’s long-term security. Furthermore, he demanded that additional “urgent and specific steps” be implemented to enhance the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza’s civilian populace.

Speaking to Reuters, a senior White House official said that negotiations to obtain the release of the final prisoners held by Hamas in Gaza have made “real progress” in recent weeks.

Following the murderous rampage of over 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7 by Hamas military who also abducted over 240 individuals, Israel began its operations in the Palestinian enclave.

On Sunday, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said 112 more Palestinians had been killed by the Israeli military over the previous day, bringing the overall death toll to more than 28,100 and more than 67,500 injured.