Israel-Hamas war: Netanyahu says made clear to Biden that Rafah ground operation must destroy Hamas
Netanyahu made it categorically clear that there is no other way to destroy or eliminate Hamas than the ground operation.
Tel AvivAmid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear on Wednesday that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) will continue the ground operation in Rafah despite global pressure, adding that he has told US President Joe Biden about the the same, the Times of Israel reported.
“We have a disagreement with the Americans over the need to enter Rafah,” Netanyahu told the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday.
“Not about the need to eliminate Hamas – the need to enter Rafah. We see no way to eliminate Hamas militarily without destroying these remaining battalions. We are determined to do it,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu made it categorically clear that there is no other way to destroy or eliminate Hamas than the ground operation.
“I made it clear to the president in our conversation in the clearest way that we are determined to complete the elimination of these battalions in Rafah,” Netanyahu said. to the ground.”
Biden effectively ruled out any possible support for a major Israeli ground offensive in Rafah, which borders the Egyptian border at the southern tip of Gaza, during a phone call with Netanyahu on Monday, as reported by the Times of Israel.
“A major ground operation would be a mistake. It would lead to more innocent civilian deaths, worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen anarchy in Gaza and further isolate Israel internationally,” said US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
Netanyahu added in his call with Israeli lawmakers that the two leaders agreed on a mechanism through which the Americans could share their ideas on humanitarian aid and the evacuation of civilians, a concern he said Israel shares.
“We must complete the military elimination of Hamas,” he said. “There is no substitute for that, you cannot avoid it, you cannot say, ‘We will destroy 80 percent of Hamas, we will [leave] 20 percent’, because that 20 percent will reorganize and retake the Gaza Strip, and of course they will pose a renewed threat to Israel, and of course it will also be a victory for the broader axis that threatens us – the Iranian axis,” Netanyahu added to.
Meanwhile, the White House said Biden’s call to Netanyahu said the former had warned about the operation in Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have taken refuge.
Biden and Netanyahu agreed to have their teams meet soon in Washington to exchange views and discuss “alternative approaches” that would target key elements of Hamas and secure the Egypt-Gaza border without a major ground operation in Rafah, the White House said.
Biden asked Netanyahu to send a senior team of military, intelligence and humanitarian officials to Washington to discuss an alternative approach that would target Hamas in Rafah and secure the Egypt-Gaza border without a major ground invasion.
(With inputs from ANI)