(Washington) Joe Biden will meet Monday with Benjamin Netanyahu, at a time when Israel is preparing a major offensive in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, despite repeated warnings from the United States.
This call comes as the American president receives King Abdullah II of Jordan, a key ally, at the White House on Monday.
Mr. Biden told Israel’s prime minister in April that an invasion of Rafah would be a “mistake,” and Washington has made clear it does not support an offensive without a credible plan to protect civilians sheltering there.
Rafah, on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip, has been transformed into a gigantic refugee camp housing, according to the UN, 1.2 million Palestinians, or half of the territory’s population, most of them displaced people.
Israel launched an operation on Monday aimed at evacuating tens of thousands of Palestinian families from the eastern city of Rafah.
Despite international condemnations, the Israeli Prime Minister promised to launch this offensive, which he believes is essential to destroy the last battalions of the Islamist movement in the Palestinian territory.
“We cannot comment on the operations of the Israeli army,” but “we have made clear to the Israeli government our views on a major ground invasion of Rafah and the president will speak to the prime minister today” , indicated a spokesperson for the National Security Council.
“We continue to believe that a hostage release agreement is the best way to preserve the lives of the hostages and avoid an invasion of Rafah, where more than a million people have sought refuge,” he said. he continued, adding that “these negotiations are ongoing.”
New talks on Saturday and Sunday in Cairo were met with intransigence from both camps.
Hamas continues to demand a definitive ceasefire while Israel promises to destroy the Islamist movement in power in Gaza.
Truce discussions were expected to continue on Monday in Qatar, the main mediating country, where CIA Director William Burns is expected.
Jordan’s ally
The question remains as to what the United States, Israel’s main arms supplier, will do if Mr. Netanyahu continues this offensive in Rafah.
The American president warned that he would, if necessary, be required to “modify” his policy towards Israel, but without specifying how.
He issued this warning after the Israeli strike on 1er April, having targeted a convoy of the American NGO World Central Kitchen in Gaza, killing seven humanitarian workers.
Joe Biden, in the midst of his campaign for his re-election to the White House, is criticized for his unconditional support for Israel.
Nearly 90 US Democratic lawmakers urged him last Friday to consider cutting off arms sales to Israel if the Israeli government does not change the way it conducts the war against Hamas.
Mr. Biden’s lunch with the king of Jordan, a key US ally in the Middle East, is likely to focus on ceasefire talks and the situation in Rafah.
The meeting will be private and the media will not have access, but it will be followed by a debriefing, according to the White House.
Jordan, which maintains diplomatic relations with Israel and has a large Palestinian population, is particularly sensitive to tensions in the Middle East.
The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken recently visited the kingdom, as a first Jordanian humanitarian aid convoy left for the Gaza Strip, via a passage newly opened by Israel.
In mid-April, Amman shot down Iranian drones fired at Israel. While working with the United States, the kingdom wants to avoid being affected by a possible conflict.
The war broke out on October 7 when Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza launched an attack in southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP report established in from official Israeli data.
The Israeli offensive launched in the Gaza Strip in retaliation has so far left 34,735 dead, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.