Biden Summons Israel for Talks; Says Netanyahu’s Position on Hamas Is ‘Nonsense’
Joel B. Pollak 18 Mar 2024
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House on Monday that President Joe Biden had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to oppose Israeli plans to attack Hamas in the city of Rafah.
Sullivan added that the president had asked Netanyahu an “interagency” team of military, defense, and humanitarian officials by “the beginning of next week” to meet with U.S. officials in Washington and negotiate over a Rafah operation.
He said that the Biden Administration might approve limited, targeted strikes in Rafah, but would refuse a broader Israeli invasion of the town, saying that such an invasion would put civilians and humanitarian aid corridors at risk.
Rafah is the last stronghold of Hamas, on the Egyptian border in Gaza. It is home to the last four battalions of Hamas, and is thought to be where Hamas leaders are hiding and keeping Israeli hostages. It is also a key smuggling route.
Biden has publicly opposed any Israeli operation in Rafah since February, at least until there is a plan to evacuate the one million Palestinian civilians who have fled there. Netanyahu has said that not to invade Rafah is to lose the war.
Netanyahu and Biden spoke, just days after Biden endorsed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) demand that Israel hold new elections to replace Netanyahu, calling him an “obstacle to peace.” (Netanyahu called his remarks “inappropriate.”
Netanyahu’s version of the call was terse. “We discussed the latest developments in the war, including Israel’s commitment to achieving all of the war’s goals: Eliminating Hamas, freeing all of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza never gain constitutes a threat to Israel – while providing the necessary humanitarian aid that will assist in achieving these goals,” he said, in a statement released Monday by the Government Press Office.
Sullivan said that Biden had specifically criticized Netanyahu’s plans to attack Hamas in Rafah. Sullivan said that Biden had addressed what he called a “straw man,” the “nonsense” argument that to refrain from attacking Hamas in Rafah means giving up on defeating Hamas.
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https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2024/03/18/biden-summons-israel-for-talks-says-netanyahus-position-on-hamas-is-nonsense/