Biden again tells Israel’s Netanyahu that Rafah civilians must be protected

WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden on Feb 15 again told Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he should not proceed with military action in Rafah without a credible and executable plan to protect Palestinian civilians, the White House said.

The call between the two leaders was the second time in less than a week that

Mr Biden warned Mr Netanyahu

about moving into the southern part of the Gaza Strip without a plan to ensure the safety of some one million people who are sheltering there.

They also spoke about ongoing hostage negotiations, and Mr Biden pledged to continue to work round the clock to help free the hostages, according to the White House read-out of the call.

Israeli forces said on Feb 15 they

raided the biggest functioning hospital in Gaza,

an incursion that raised fresh alarm over the fate of hundreds of patients and medical workers and the many displaced Palestinians who have sought shelter from the war at the facility.

Fighting at the hospital comes as Israel faces growing international pressure to show restraint, after vowing to press its offensive into Rafah, the last relatively safe place in Gaza.

Earlier in February, Mr Biden said Israel’s military response in the Gaza Strip

has been “over the top”

and expressed grave concern over the rising civilian death toll in the Palestinian enclave.

Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand have also urged Israel not to launch a ground offensive in Rafah.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told Mr Netanyahu by phone on Feb 15 that Britain was “deeply concerned about... the potentially devastating humanitarian impact of a military incursion into Rafah”, his office said.

The war in Gaza began on Oct 7,

when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel responded with an air and ground offensive that has since killed at least 28,500 people and devastated the tiny and crowded enclave, according to Gaza’s health authorities.

Nearly all of the strip’s two million inhabitants have also been forced from their homes. REUTERS, AFP