President Biden stated Monday that Israel mustn’t proceed with a significant floor offensive within the southern Gaza metropolis of Rafah with out a “credible plan” to guard greater than one million folks taking refuge there.
Mr. Biden spoke after assembly on the White Home with King Abdullah II of Jordan, a key determine within the push for a cease-fire within the Gaza Strip. It was the primary face-to-face dialog between the 2 leaders because the Israel-Hamas warfare started.
“Lots of people have been displaced — displaced many occasions, fleeing the violence within the north, and now they're packed into Rafah, uncovered and weak,” Mr. Biden stated throughout an look with King Abdullah. “They should be protected.”
The go to got here as King Abdullah sought to bolster worldwide assist for a direct ceasefire in Gaza that might definitively finish the combating.
Mr. Biden rejected the thought of a basic ceasefire, saying that Israel has the precise to defend itself. However he pushed for a pause within the combating that would enable the discharge of hostages held by Hamas and one thing “extra lasting.”
A lot of Jordan's inhabitants is ethnically Palestinian, placing the nation — a detailed US ally that has a peace treaty with Israel — in a tough place because it navigates the fallout from the warfare.
King Abdullah stated an Israeli invasion of Rafah was “sure to provide one other humanitarian disaster”.
“The state of affairs is already insufferable for greater than one million individuals who have been pushed into Rafah because the warfare began,” King Abdullah stated. “We can’t stand by and let this proceed. We’d like a long-lasting ceasefire now. This warfare should finish.”
Mr Biden issued a powerful condemnation of the rising dying toll in Gaza, the place well being officers say greater than 28,000 folks have been killed because the begin of the warfare.
“It's heartbreaking,” Mr. Biden stated of the deaths. “Each harmless life in Gaza is a tragedy.”
Whereas Mr. Biden's criticism of the warfare has turn into extra forceful within the 4 months because the October 7 assault, america has not signaled that it plans main political adjustments, akin to setting the circumstances for navy assist to Israel.
On Monday, when requested whether or not Israel will face penalties for its subsequent navy marketing campaign, John F. Kirby, a spokesman for the White Home, stated he wouldn’t enter into “hypotheticals.”
He stated america was working to affect how Israel waged its warfare.
“There have been moments and there’ll proceed to be moments the place now we have the chance and we took the chance to form their pondering and to assist affect the best way they carried out a few of these operations,” he stated. “And this stays immediately.”
Mr Biden and King Abdullah stated the battle ought to finish with a two-state resolution.
“I say this as a longtime and lifelong supporter of Israel,” Mr. Biden stated. “It’s the solely path that ensures Israel's long-term safety.”
King Abdullah stated that “that is the one resolution that ensures peace and safety for the Palestinians and the Israelis, in addition to for your complete area.”
Egypt and Qatar, as intermediaries between Israel and Hamas, have led talks geared toward ending the combating and liberating hostages held in Gaza. The Biden administration has been actively concerned in these negotiations, working publicly and behind the scenes to attempt to advance a ceasefire settlement.
On Monday, Mr. Biden stated america was engaged on a hostage take care of Israel and Hamas that would carry no less than a six-week pause that would “take time to construct one thing extra lasting.”
CIA Director William J. Burns was anticipated to journey to Cairo for the hostage talks on Tuesday, based on a US official who spoke on situation of anonymity in regards to the talks. .
Whereas Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rejected a Hamas proposal final week, Israeli officers signaled that his authorities remains to be open to negotiation. The mere incontrovertible fact that extra talks will happen in Cairo this week is seen as a constructive signal.
