Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday that his country is ready to ignore President Biden’s “red line” and proceed with an invasion of Rafah as the Jewish state continues its military operation in Gaza.
Israel faces increased scrutiny as the death toll in the Palestinian enclave continues to rise to at least 30,000, Hamas-backed health officials say.
In an interview on MSNBC on Saturday, Biden opposed further fighting in Rafah, saying invading the area was a “red line that shouldn’t be crossed,” but quickly backtracked and said there is no red line that should be crossed. said.
“It’s a red line that should never be crossed, but I will never leave Israel,” Biden said. “Defending Israel remains important. That’s why there are no red lines. [in which] I’m going to cut off all of their weapons so there will be no Iron Dome to protect them. ”
Prime Minister Netanyahu said he did not care whether Biden supported military action in Rafah, pointing to the October 7 massacre in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and another 200 were kidnapped.
“We are going there. We are not going to leave,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said in an interview. Politico’s parent company Axel Springer. “You know, I have a red line. You know what a red line is, October 7th will never happen again.”
The Israeli leader also told the publication that he has received quiet support from several Arab leaders to advance Israel’s war against Hamas.
“They understand that Hamas is part of the Iranian axis of terror.”
The White House urged Netanyahu not to launch a major attack on Rafah before considering ways to evacuate civilians in the still-uninvaded Gaza Strip.
More than half of the 2.3 million Palestinians living in Gaza have taken refuge in the Rafah area.
The Israel Defense Forces said last month that it had killed about 12,000 Hamas terrorists since the war began, nearly half of its estimated membership.
Reuters
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said 18 of Hamas’s 24 battalions have been destroyed, but four of the six remaining units are believed to be in Rafah.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Axel Springer that the fighting could end in “probably six weeks, maybe four weeks.”
Israeli forces entered Gaza soon after the October 7 surprise attack.
Also on Sunday, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that Israel’s attempt to eliminate all Hamas is not a “realistic goal.”
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said, “I meet with Israeli, military and intelligence officials, and I don’t think the idea of eliminating all Hamas fighters is a realistic goal.” ) Said.
Meanwhile, food and drinking water are in short supply in the Gaza Strip, and malnutrition is on the rise, according to the World Health Organization.
However, aid is slow to reach this region.
AFP (via Getty Images)
In total, less than 1,000 trucks entered Gaza between February 24 and March 3, far below the required 500 per day, CNN reported, citing UN officials.
Although some countries, including the United States, have begun providing aid by air, road access remains critical, the agency said.
The United States has also begun efforts to build temporary ports to deliver aid by sea.
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