US President Biden spoke by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and a group of senior Israeli officials expressed concern about the Israeli military's ground operation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and discussed plans to replace the large-scale operation. We requested that a team be sent to Washington.
President Biden spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the 18th, as the latter approved plans for a ground operation in Rafah, where nearly 1.5 million people are sheltering in the southern Gaza Strip.
After the meeting, President Sullivan, who is in charge of national security policy at the White House, held a press conference in which he revealed that the Israeli military had killed Marwan Isa, deputy commander of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, last week. "Israel is making great progress," he said.
Meanwhile, Sullivan said that President Biden expressed deep concerns about conducting ground operations in Rafah, citing the lack of a plan to safely move civilians from Rafah.
Prime Minister Netanyahu also requested that a team consisting of senior Israeli military officials be sent to Washington in the coming days to discuss plans to replace a large-scale ground operation, and Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed.
``While it is our position that Rafah, or any other location, should not be a safe haven for Hamas, a large-scale ground operation would be a mistake,'' Sullivan said. ``No operation in Rafah will begin until these discussions have taken place.'' I believe that.''