At President Biden’s request, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed Monday to send a team of officials to Washington to discuss alternatives to a promised Israeli invasion of Rafah, the city that has become the last refuge for about half the population of Gaza. , said Mr. Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.
In a phone call on Monday, Mr. Biden told the Israeli leader that sending ground troops to Rafah, as Mr. Netanyahu has repeatedly promised to do, could be disastrous if there are other options to defeat Hamas, Mr. Sullivan said.
“A major ground operation there would be a mistake,” Mr. Sullivan told reporters at the White House. “It would lead to more innocent civilian deaths, worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen anarchy in Gaza and further isolate Israel internationally.”
Mr. Sullivan said that Mr. Biden had asked Mr. Netanyahu to send a team of military, intelligence and humanitarian officials to Washington to hear American concerns about Israeli plans for Rafah, and to “lay out an alternative approach that would target key Hamas elements in the fight against Rafah. Rafah and secure the Egypt-Gaza border without a major ground invasion.”
“The Prime Minister agreed that he would send a team,” he added. “Obviously he has his own views on a Rafah operation, but he agreed to send a team to Washington to have this discussion.”
During the call, Mr. Biden, who has become increasingly critical of Israel’s warfare and the toll it has taken on civilians, expressed concern that Israeli forces could repeat the pattern of destruction that has unfolded during major offensives in Gaza – City and Khan Younis.
“More than a million people have taken refuge in Rafah,” Mr. Sullivan told reporters. “They went from Gaza City to Khan Younis and then to Rafah. They have nowhere else to go. Gaza’s other major cities have been largely destroyed.”
Mr. Sullivan said Israel has also not presented any plan to safely move civilians out of harm’s way, or provide them with food, shelter and basic services such as sanitation — a key request of the Biden administration for weeks.
In a statement posted on social mediaMr Netanyahu said he and Mr Biden had discussed recent developments in the war. He said they also discussed Israel’s commitment to achieving all its objectives for the war: “Eliminating Hamas, freeing all our hostages and guaranteeing that Gaza will never make a profit threatens Israel – while we while providing the necessary humanitarian assistance that will help achieve these objectives.” goals.”
Mr. Biden has been publicly steadfast in what Mr. Sullivan described Monday as a “deep commitment to ensuring Israel’s long-term security.” But the president has been embroiled in escalating criticism of Mr Netanyahu as the number of Palestinian casualties continues to rise from the military operation Israel launched in response to the October 7 attacks led by Hamas.
After Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, called for elections to replace Netanyahu, Biden praised his comments as “a good speech” — without specifically endorsing Schumer’s criticism of the prime minister.
And earlier this month, Mr. Biden was heard in audio clips telling a member of Congress that he should have a “come to Jesus” meeting with Mr. Netanyahu over the bloodshed in Gaza.
Mr. Sullivan began his remarks Monday by highlighting the Israeli military’s success in routing Hamas and reaffirming the United States’ commitment to help. But his description of the chaos in Gaza was among the sharpest and most critical of the White House’s Israeli response in recent months.
“More innocent civilians have been killed in this conflict, during this military operation, than in all the wars in Gaza combined, including thousands of children,” he said. “A humanitarian crisis has emerged in Gaza, and anarchy reigns in areas that the Israeli army has cleared but not stabilized.”