Netanyahu (left) agreed to Biden's request to send a team to Washington to discuss the invasion of Rafah (agencies)
US President Joe Biden said that he asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to send a team to Washington to discuss the plan to invade Rafah.
Biden added that he stressed during a phone call with Netanyahu the importance of agreeing on an immediate ceasefire in Gaza that will last for weeks as part of an agreement to release Israeli detainees.
For his part, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Sunday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to send a team to the United States to discuss Israel's plan to invade Rafah without a major ground invasion.
Sullivan's speech came in a briefing to reporters from the White House following a phone call between Netanyahu and Biden, the first after more than a month of interruption of direct communication, which was accompanied by the expansion of differences between the two sides against the backdrop of Israel's management of the war on Gaza and its failure to reduce the number of civilian casualties as requested of it.
According to Sullivan, Netanyahu has agreed to send intelligence officials in addition to humanitarian affairs workers to Washington in the coming days, to listen to US concerns about the current Israeli planning for Rafah, and to develop an alternative approach that targets the main Hamas elements in the city, and secures the Egyptian-Israeli border without a ground invasion. big.
Sullivan said the United States does not expect Israel to begin any invasion until talks are held with the team that will be sent.
He stated that Biden rejected Netanyahu's argument that invading Rafah would mean defeating Hamas, saying, "Every time I hear an argument that says if Rafah is not stormed, you will not be able to defeat Hamas."
According to Sullivan, Biden said in the call that the United States is concerned about the presence of more than a million refugees in Rafah who have no place to go.
Sullivan said that a major ground operation in Rafah would be a mistake, and would lead to the death of more innocent civilians, exacerbate the humanitarian crisis, deepen the chaos in Gaza, and increase Israel's international isolation.
He also stated that talks to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas are continuing despite the challenges, adding, "So far this agreement has been more elusive than we had hoped, but we will continue to put pressure because we consider this an urgent priority."
The United States is working with Qatar and Egypt to reach an agreement to stop the Israeli war on Gaza, and to release more than 100 Israeli detainees in Gaza, but the mediators have been struggling for weeks to narrow the wide gaps between the two sides.
Source: Al Jazeera + agencies