Biden speaks with Netanyahu amid escalating tensions in U.S.-Israel, warns against Rafah invasion
WASHINGTON — During a critical phone call Monday, President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against Israel's carrying out a planned military operation in Rafah, the White House said.
WASHINGTON — During a critical phone call Monday, President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against Israel's carrying out a planned military operation in Rafah, the White House said.
"Our position is that Hamas should not be allowed a safe haven in Rafah or anywhere else, but a major ground operation there would be a mistake," national security adviser Jake Sullivan said at the White House briefing where he outlined the leaders' conversation.
"It would lead to more innocent civilian deaths, worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen the anarchy in Gaza and further isolate Israel internationally," Sullivan added.
He said more than a million people have taken refuge in Rafah, a city in the southwestern Gaza Strip along Egypt's border, after having moved away from Gaza City and Khan Younis.
"They have nowhere else to go," Sullivan said. "Israel has not presented us or the world with a plan for how or where they would safely move those civilians, let alone feed and house them and ensure access to basic things like sanitation."
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