Israeli National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed on Monday to send a team to Washington to discuss with Biden administration officials about a possible operation in the Gaza Strip.
“We have reached a point where each side has made its point clear to the other,” Sullivan said.
The White House questions Netanyahu's plan to carry out an operation in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, where about 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are taking refuge, while Israel seeks to eliminate Hamas in the wake of its deadly attack on October 7.
The agreement to hold talks on Rafah came as President Biden and Netanyahu spoke on Monday, their first interaction in more than a month, with the growing division between allies over the food crisis in Gaza and Israel's behavior during the war, according to the White House. a house.
Sullivan added that Biden questioned the Israeli leader about the lack of a “coherent and sustainable strategy” to defeat Hamas.
This call came after Republicans in Washington and Israeli officials expressed their anger at Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer's strong criticism of Netanyahu's handling of the war in Gaza and called on Israel to hold new elections. They accused the Democratic leader of violating the unwritten rule against interfering in his close ally's electoral politics.
Biden did not support Schumer's call for Israeli elections, but said he thought the senator gave a “good speech” that reflected the concerns of many Americans. Sullivan said Netanyahu raised concerns about Schumer's comments.
Biden administration officials have warned that they will not support an operation in Rafah without the Israelis presenting a credible plan to ensure the safety of Palestinian civilians. Israel has not yet presented such a plan, according to White House officials.
Netanyahu, in a statement after the call, did not directly refer to the tension with the United States.
“We discussed the latest developments in the war, including Israel’s commitment to achieving all of the war’s goals: eliminating Hamas, releasing all of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza never (again) poses a threat to Israel — while providing the necessary humanitarian aid that will,” Netanyahu said. It helps achieve these goals.”
But on Sunday, Netanyahu criticized the US criticism, calling calls for new elections “totally inappropriate.” He told Fox News that Israel would never have called new US elections after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
“We are not a banana republic,” Netanyahu said. “The people of Israel will choose when they will hold elections and who they will elect, and this is not something that will be imposed on us.”
On the other hand, the United Nations food agency on Monday issued further warnings about the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
The World Food Program warned that “famine is imminent” in northern Gaza, where 70% of the Strip's population suffers from catastrophic hunger, and that an escalation of the war could push about half of Gaza's population to the brink of famine.
Sullivan called the report “troubling.”
Biden appeared in hot water this month after his State of the Union address telling a Democratic ally that he had told Netanyahu they were going to have a “Come to Jesus” meeting on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. His frustration was also evident in a recent MSNBC interview, where he asserted that Netanyahu is “hurting Israel.”
Biden said: “He has the right to defend Israel, and the right to continue pursuing Hamas.” “But he must, he must, pay more attention to the innocent lives lost as a result of the actions taken. … In my view, he is hurting Israel more than helping it.”
The president announced during his State of the Union address that the US military would help establish a temporary dock aimed at increasing the amount of aid reaching Gaza. The US military also airdrops aid.
The Biden administration resorted to unusual solutions months after calling on Israel, the largest recipient of US military aid, to enhance access and protection for trucks carrying humanitarian goods to Gaza.
The war broke out after Hamas-led militants stormed southern Israel in a surprise attack on October 7, killing about 1,200 people – most of them civilians – and taking about 250 hostage.
Israel responded with one of the fiercest and most destructive military campaigns in modern history. The war led to the deaths of more than 31,000 Palestinians, according to the Ministry of Health in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. About 80% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million have fled their homes.
Madhani, Miller and Frankel write for the Associated Press.
