Biden has called on Israel to send a delegation to Washington to avoid the operation in Rafah

US President Joe Biden said on Monday that he had ordered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to send a delegation to Washington to discuss how to avoid a wider attack on the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah.

The summons is one of Joe Biden’s apparent attempts to slow down Israel, a country that is considering a major ground offensive by its army in Rafah, where more than a million Palestinian civilians are refugees.

“I asked the Prime Minister to send a team to Washington to discuss ways to target Hamas without a major ground offensive in Rafah”Joe Biden made the announcement after an interview with Benjamin Netanyahu, the first between the two leaders in more than a month, whose relationship has clearly cooled.

Also readHamas-Israel war: Ramadan begins under tension in Jerusalem

Joe Biden has “Reiterated the need for an immediate ceasefire as part of the agreement on the release of the hostages, lasting several weeks, so that the hostages can return home and aid can be delivered to the citizens of Gaza”.. Rafah will be aggressive “a mistake”US National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan said, she “will lead to more innocent victims, worsen an already dire humanitarian situation, strengthen the chaos in Gaza and further isolate Israel” on the international scene.

Killing Hamas in Rafah

During their telephone exchange, the American president asked to send an Israeli delegation to the United States to discuss this offensive project, and the head of the Israeli government accepted, the adviser said during a conference. Pres. This discussion should also focus on feasibility “another approach” Aiming to strike Hamas in Rafah without a major ground offensive, he said.

Jack Sullivan said he expected Israel to refrain from launching an operation in Rafah on the Egyptian border before the discussion took place in Washington. “We share the objective of defeating Hamas, but we believe that achieving this requires a coherent and sustainable strategy.”, he said again. However, he believed that Israel had “Made significant progress” against the Palestinian faction.

The White House on Monday confirmed the death last week in Gaza of the deputy head of Hamas’ armed wing, Marwan Issa, making him the highest-ranking official killed by the Israeli military in the region since the start of the war. The Israeli army reported the airstrikes “In the middle of the Gaza Strip, near Nusirat”Against that “underground base”was “Used by two senior leaders of the organization (including Marwan Issa)”.

American presidential election

Israel, however, did not confirm the death of the man, born in 1965, who was the deputy of Mohammed Deif, the leader of Hamas’s armed wing al-Qassam Brigades. The US president has supported Israel since the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli soil on October 7 but has increasingly distanced himself from Benjamin Netanyahu.

Joe Biden is also facing growing political pressure from Muslim and Arab American populations, as well as young voters, just months before November’s presidential election. Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement after his conversation with Joe Biden that he reiterated “Israel’s Commitment to Achieve All War Objectives”. It cited the elimination of Hamas, the release of all hostages held by the group, and as goals “Guaranteed Gaza will never be a threat to Israel”.

On October 7, Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza launched an unprecedented attack in southern Israel, resulting in the deaths of at least 1,160 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP count established from official Israeli sources. According to Israel, about 250 people have been kidnapped and 130 of them are still being held hostage in Gaza, of whom 33 are believed to have died.