President Joe Biden will meet with Middle East ally King Abdullah II of Jordan at the White House on Monday, but prospects for a ceasefire in Gaza remain slim, with Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Israeli officials blaming each other for the impasse. There is.
On Sunday, Hamas demanded an end to the war in exchange for the release of the hostages, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flatly denied that possibility. Hamas also attacked the Kerem Shalom crossing into the Gaza Strip, and Israel said it killed three soldiers.
A Jordanian diplomat told Reuters that Monday’s meeting between Mr. Biden and King Abdullah was not a formal bilateral meeting, but an informal informal meeting. This comes as the Biden administration and Israeli officials remain at odds over Israel’s plans for a military invasion of Rafah.
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Biden last spoke with King Abdullah at the White House in February, when the two longtime allies discussed issues such as an impending Israeli ground offensive in southern Gaza and the threat of a humanitarian disaster for Palestinian civilians. We discussed a daunting list of challenges.
King Abdullah II ibn al-Hussein of Jordan and U.S. President Joe Biden are seen on the North Corridor of the White House in Washington, D.C., February 12, 2024. On May 6, 2024, the King of Jordan announced his quarrel with Biden. Returned for official unofficial talks, as there is likely to be a push into Rafah by Israel. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Jordan and other Arab states have been highly critical of Israel’s actions and have called for a ceasefire since mid-October, when civilian casualties began to rise sharply. The war began after Hamas surprised Israel with a cross-border raid on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 252 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
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The White House said Biden last spoke with Netanyahu on April 28 and “reiterated his clear position” on a possible invasion of the Gaza border city of Rafah. The US president has vocally called for Israel not to launch a ground attack in Rafah without a plan to protect Palestinian civilians.
Mr Biden faces increasing political pressure to persuade Israel to refrain from invading as pro-Palestinian protests erupt across US university campuses. Biden mentioned campus unrest over the Gaza war last week, but said the campus protests had not forced him to reconsider his Middle East policy.
