WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday that a major ground offensive in Gaza’s Rafah would be a “mistake,” as the two leaders spoke for the first time in a month amid growing tensions.
Netanyahu had also agreed to Biden’s request to send a delegation of senior Israeli officials to Washington to discuss Israel’s Rafah plans and a possible “alternative approach,” the White House said.
But in a sign of the increasingly difficult relationship, Netanyahu said that he had insisted to Biden on achieving all of Israel’s war aims against Hamas.
The pair last spoke on February 15, and Biden has been increasingly vocal in his criticisms of the Palestinian death toll and dire humanitarian situation in Gaza where the UN has warned of famine.
Biden was caught on a hot mic moment recently saying that he would have a “come to Jesus meeting” with the Israeli premier as his frustration grew with Netanyahu.
“The president explained why he is so deeply concerned about the prospect of Israel conducting major military operations in Rafah,” US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told a briefing Monday.
“A major ground operation there would be a mistake, it would lead to more innocent civilian deaths, worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen the anarchy in Gaza, and further isolate Israel internationally,” said Sullivan.
Biden had asked Netanyahu to send a senior team of military, intelligence and aid officials to Washington to “hear US concerns” about the current Rafah plan — and discuss an “alternative approach” involving targeted raids on Hamas.
Netanyahu agreed to “have this discussion and this engagement,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan described the call as “businesslike.” Explaining why the two leaders had not spoken for 32 days, Sullivan said Biden reserves his calls for Netanyahu for “when he believes there is a key strategic moment.”
Biden has stood by Israel since the October 7 attacks, visiting the country shortly afterwards, and the United States has continued to supply its key ally with billions of dollars in aid.
But Biden has been increasingly vocal in his criticisms of the Palestinian death toll and dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. Democrats fear growing opposition at home could hurt his chances in November’s presidential election.
Netanyahu said in a statement after the call that he had reiterated “Israel’s commitment to achieving all of the war’s objectives.”
The Israeli premier cited the objectives as eliminating Hamas, release of all the hostages and “ensuring that Gaza will never present a threat to Israel.”
He also pointed to the provision of “essential humanitarian aid that helps achieve these aims.”
Israel began relentless bombardment in Gaza, alongside a ground offensive, after Palestinian militant group Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack, which left about 1,160 dead in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
The militants also seized hostages, around 130 of whom Israel believes remain in Gaza, including 33 presumed dead.
Nearly 32,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
As tensions with Netanyahu escalated, Biden pointedly praised a “good speech” last week by Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer calling for new elections in Israel.
With the UN warning of imminent famine in Gaza, Biden earlier this month ordered the US military to start airdrops of food into the enclave, and is sending American forces to build a temporary port for maritime aid.
Biden tells Netanyahu Rafah operation would be ‘mistake’
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Biden tells Netanyahu Rafah operation would be ‘mistake’
- Biden has been increasingly vocal in his criticisms of the Palestinian death toll and dire humanitarian situation in Gaza where the UN has warned of famine
- Biden pointedly praised a ‘good speech’ last week by Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer calling for new elections in Israel
Qatar’s prime minister calls on Hamas, Israel to begin immediate talks on Gaza ceasefire phase two
- According to the ceasefire agreement, negotiations on implementing the second phase of the deal should begin before the 16th day of phase one of the ceasefire, which is Monday
DOHA: Qatar’s prime minister on Sunday called on Israel and Hamas to immediately begin negotiating phase two of the Gaza ceasefire, adding that there is no clear plan for when talks will begin.
“We demand (Hamas and Israel) to engage immediately as stipulated in the agreement,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said at a press conference held jointly with Turkiye’s foreign minister in the Qatari capital Doha on Sunday.
According to the ceasefire agreement, negotiations on implementing the second phase of the deal should begin before the 16th day of phase one of the ceasefire, which is Monday.
Israel and Hamas last month reached a complex three-phase accord that has halted the fighting in Gaza. Hamas has so far released 18 hostages in exchange for Israel releasing hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
There are more than 70 hostages still held in Gaza.
The second stage of the accord is expected to include Hamas releasing all remaining hostages held in Gaza, a permanent end to hostilities and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave.
“There is nothing yet clear about where the delegations will come and when it’s going to take place,” Sheikh Mohammed said.
Mediators have engaged with Hamas and Israel over the phone and Qatar has set an agenda for the next phase of negotiations, he said.
“We hope that we start to see some movement in the next few days. It’s critical that we get things rolling from now in order to get to an agreement before day 42.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he would begin negotiations on phase two of the agreement on Monday in Washington, when he is set to meet US President Donald Trump’s Middle East Envoy, Steve Witkoff.
During his meeting with Witkoff, Netanyahu will discuss Israel’s positions in respect to the ceasefire, the prime minister’s office said. Witkoff will then speak with officials from Egypt and Qatar, who have mediated between Israel and Hamas over the past 15 months with backing from Washington.
Four Palestinians wounded in Israeli strike on car on Gaza coast, medics say
CAIRO: At least four Palestinians were wounded in an Israeli strike on Sunday on a vehicle on the coastal road west of the Nuseirat camp in the central part of the Gaza Strip, medics told Reuters.
Medics first announced that a young boy had been killed in the strike, but later said they had managed to resuscitate him.
The Israeli military (IDF) said on Sunday an Israeli aircraft fired on what it described as a suspcious vehicle moving towards northern Gaza outside the inspection route laid down by the ceasefire agreement.
Turkiye could accept some Palestinians freed by Israel: FM
- ‘Our president has declared that we are ready to take in some freed Palestinians... in order to support the agreement’
- ‘Turkiye, along with other countries, will do its part in this regard so the ceasefire agreement can remain in force’
DOHA: Turkiye could take in some Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel under the terms of its ceasefire deal with Hamas, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said during a visit to Qatar on Sunday.
“Our president has declared that we are ready to take in some freed Palestinians... in order to support the agreement. Turkiye, along with other countries, will do its part in this regard so the ceasefire agreement can remain in force,” he said at a press conference in Doha.
Netanyahu leaves for Washington looking to deepen ties with Trump
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the first foreign leader to visit Donald Trump since his inauguration last month
- Netanyahu had strained relations with Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden and has not visited the White House since the end of 2022
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to leave Israel on Sunday for a meeting with US President Donald Trump, looking to strengthen ties with Washington after tensions with the previous White House administration over the war in Gaza.
Netanyahu, the first foreign leader to visit Trump since his inauguration last month, leaves with the ceasefire in Gaza still holding and negotiations aimed at a second phase expected to begin this week.
“The decisions we made in the war have already changed the face of the Middle East,” he said at the airport before his departure.
“Our decisions and the courage of our soldiers have redrawn the map. But I believe that working closely with President Trump, we can redraw it even further and for the better.”
Netanyahu, who faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over allegations of war crimes in Gaza, had strained relations with Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden and has not visited the White House since returning to office at the end of 2022.
Gaza ceasefire sees its smoothest exchange yet of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners
- Hamas freed three male hostages on Saturday, Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners
- Ceasefire’s second phase calls for release of remaining hostages, indefinite extension of truce
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip: The ceasefire in Gaza saw its smoothest exchange yet of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, and the crucial Rafah border crossing reopened two days before discussions on the truce’s far more difficult second phase begin.
And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, giving him a chance to showcase his ties to Israel’s closest ally and press his case for what should come next after 15 months of war.
The ceasefire’s second phase calls for the release of remaining hostages and an indefinite extension of the truce in the deadliest and most destructive war ever between Israel and Hamas. The fighting could resume in early March if an agreement isn’t reached.
Netanyahu’s office said he spoke Saturday evening with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. They agreed that negotiations on the second phase will begin at their meeting Monday, and Witkoff later in the week will speak with the other mediators, Qatar and Egypt.
Hamas on Saturday freed three male hostages, and Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners in the fourth such exchange. Another exchange is planned for next Saturday.
Militants handed Argentinian-Israeli Yarden Bibas and French-Israeli Ofer Kalderon to Red Cross officials in the southern city of Khan Younis, while American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel, looking pale and thin, was handed over in Gaza City.
All three were taken during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel that sparked the war. Eighteen hostages have now been released since the ceasefire began on Jan. 19.
The latest releases were quick and orderly, in contrast to chaotic scenes on Thursday when armed militants appeared to struggle to hold back a crowd. On Saturday, the militants stood in rows as the hostages walked onto a stage and waved.
Hamas has sought to show it remains in control in Gaza even though a number of its military leaders have been killed.
A bus later departed Ofer Military Prison with over two dozen Palestinian prisoners bound for the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Jubilant crowds cheered and hoisted the prisoners on their shoulders. Many appeared frail and thin.
The Israeli Prison Authority said all 183 prisoners set for release had been freed. In another sign of progress in the ceasefire, they included 111 who were arrested after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack but who weren’t involved in it. They had been held without trial and were released to Gaza. Seven serving life sentences were transferred to Egypt.
Joy and relief, but fears for those still held
Siegel, 65, originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was taken hostage from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, along with his wife, Aviva, who was released during a brief 2023 ceasefire.
There were sighs of relief and cheers as kibbutz members watched Siegel’s release.
“You can see that he’s lost a lot of weight, but still he’s walking and talking and you can feel that it’s still him. And one of the first things he told us is that he’s still vegan,” said Siegel’s niece, Tal Wax.
The release of Bibas, 35, brought renewed attention to the fate of his wife, Shiri, and their two sons, Ariel and Kfir, who were 4 years old and 9 months old when they were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Kfir was the youngest of the roughly 250 people who were taken captive on Oct. 7, and his plight came to represent the helplessness and anger in Israel.
Israel expressed “grave concern” for Bibas’ wife and children and pleaded with negotiators to provide information. Hamas has said they were killed in an Israeli airstrike, but Israel has not confirmed it.
After his release, Bibas closed his eyes as his father, Eli, and sister Ofri hugged him and cried. “Sweetheart,” his father said.
“A quarter of our heart has returned to us,” the Bibas family said in a statement.
Kalderon, 54, was also captured from Kibbutz Nir Oz. His two children, Erez and Sahar, were taken alongside him and released during the earlier ceasefire.
“I am here. I am here. I didn’t give up,” Kalderon said as they embraced.
There were similar scenes among the released Palestinians.
“Certainly, it’s an indescribable feeling, and undoubtedly a mixed feeling of both sadness and joy, as we have left our brothers in captivity,” said Mohammad Kaskus, who had been sentenced to 25 years over attacks against Israelis.
Yaser Abu Hamad, arrested for involvement in the Islamic militant group in 2006, found that 20 family members including his mother and sisters had been killed by Israeli airstrikes during the war. He visited their graves.
Palestinians who had been sentenced over their connection to deadly attacks against Israelis described harsh conditions, beatings and other abuse in prison. The Israeli Prison Authority didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ceasefire brings respite to battered Gaza
The ceasefire has held for two weeks, allowing for hundreds of trucks of aid to flow into the tiny coastal territory and for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to shattered homes in northern Gaza.
And on Saturday, 50 sick and wounded Palestinian children were leaving Gaza for treatment through the Rafah border crossing to Egypt as the enclave’s sole exit opened for the first time since Israel captured it nine months ago.
During the ceasefire’s six-week first phase, 33 Israeli hostages are to be freed in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israel says it has received information from Hamas that eight of those hostages are dead. About 80 hostages remain in Gaza.
“We will not allow you to blow up this deal. We will not allow you to force us back into war or to sentence the hostages left behind to death,” Naama Weinberg, cousin of deceased hostage Itay Svirsky, told a weekly gathering in Tel Aviv, addressing the warring sides.
Israel says it is committed to destroying Hamas. The militant group says it won’t release the remaining hostages without an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
About 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the attack that sparked the war. More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory air and ground offensive, over half women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t say how many of the dead were militants.
The Israeli military says it killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because its fighters operate in residential neighborhoods.
