Washington:

US President Joe Biden, seeking to push a Gaza ceasefire, on Monday warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against invading Rafah as Israel defiantly issued evacuation orders and carried out intense air strikes on the crowded Gaza city.

The United States said it was reviewing a response from Hamas, which said it has accepted a deal to halt seven months of war and free hostages, with CIA Director Bill Burns in the region to negotiate through Arab allies.

Biden told Netanyahu in April that invading Rafah would be a “mistake,” and Secretary of State Antony Blinken told him last week in Jerusalem that there should be no offensive due to the safety of more than one million civilians sheltering there.

“The president reiterated his clear position on Rafah,” the White House said in a brief readout of the call.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said afterward that the United States has not yet “seen a humanitarian plan that is credible and that is implementable.”

“We believe a military operation in Rafah right now would dramatically increase the suffering of the Palestinian people (and) would lead to an increase in loss of civilian life,” Miller told reporters.

But hours after the call between Biden and Netanyahu, Israel issued its second warning in a day for Palestinians to evacuate Rafah and said it was preparing for a ground invasion.

Israel carried out intense air strikes on Rafah late Monday which were virtually continuous for 30 minutes, an AFP correspondent said.

Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas following its October 7 attack, the deadliest ever experienced by Israel.

Military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a broadcast address that Israeli aircraft hit “more than 50 terror targets” around Rafah on Monday.

In one area of progress, the United States said Netanyahu agreed to keep aid flowing through Kerem Shalom, the key crossing between Gaza and Israel. Four Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack at the crossing on Sunday claimed by the armed wing of Hamas.

The Biden administration said that Burns was discussing the Hamas response in the region and did not immediately characterize it, but voiced hope for an agreement.

“We continue to believe that a hostage deal is in the best interests of the Israeli people; it’s in the best interests of the Palestinian people” Miller said.

Biden is under growing domestic pressure about the war in Gaza in an election year, with pro-Palestinian protests roiling US university campuses.

New York’s prestigious Columbia University, which has been at the heart of the protests, said Monday it had canceled its main graduation ceremony next week.

– Jordan king sounds warning –

Biden also discussed developments at a closed-door lunch with King Abdullah II of Jordan, which has relations with Israel but also a large Palestinian community and is especially sensitive to turbulence to its west.

The king asked Biden to intervene with Israel, saying that an Israeli attack on Rafah “threatens to lead to a new massacre,” according to a Jordanian statement.

Egypt, which borders Rafah and has a peace treaty with Israel, and Qatar, a US ally that is also home to Hamas leaders, have taken the lead in the ceasefire negotiations.

Israel’s apparent determination to press ahead in Rafah underscores the difficulties Biden has had exerting any leverage as Israel’s main military and diplomatic backer.

In a shift in early April, after months of unstinting support, Biden warned Netanyahu that US policy on Gaza depended on the protection of civilians and aid workers.

The warning, which followed the killing of seven aid workers in an Israeli drone strike, was the first hint of possible conditions to Washington’s military support for Israel.

But since then, the United States has declined to curb the multi-billion-dollar assistance pipeline to Israel, saying it has been allowing in more aid to Gaza.

The United States also offered public criticism Monday over Israel’s shutdown of Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based news channel that has been a popular news source in the Arab world.

“We think Al Jazeera ought to be able to operate in Israel and operate in other countries in the region,” Miller said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday that a major ground offensive in Gaza’s Rafah would be a “mistake,” as the two leaders spoke for the first time in a month amid growing tensions.

Netanyahu had also agreed to Biden’s request to send a delegation of senior Israeli officials to Washington to discuss Israel’s Rafah plans and a possible “alternative approach,” the White House said.

But in a sign of the increasingly difficult relationship, Netanyahu said that he had insisted to Biden on achieving all of Israel’s war aims against Hamas, the Palestinian militant group behind the October 7 attacks on Israel.

The pair last spoke on February 15, and Biden has been increasingly vocal in his criticisms of the Palestinian death toll and dire humanitarian situation in Gaza where the UN has warned of famine.

Biden was caught on a hot mic moment recently saying that he would have a “come to Jesus meeting” with the Israeli premier as his frustration grew with Netanyahu.

“The president explained why he is so deeply concerned about the prospect of Israel conducting major military operations in Rafah,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told a briefing Monday.

“A major ground operation there would be a mistake, it would lead to more innocent civilian deaths, worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen the anarchy in Gaza, and further isolate Israel internationally,” said Sullivan.

Biden had asked Netanyahu to send a senior team of military, intelligence and aid officials to Washington to “hear US concerns” about the current Rafah plan — and discuss an “alternative approach” involving targeted raids on Hamas.

Netanyahu agreed to “have this discussion and this engagement,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan described the call as “businesslike.” Explaining why the two leaders had not spoken for 32 days, Sullivan said Biden reserves his calls for Netanyahu for “when he believes there is a key strategic moment.”

– ‘War objectives’ –

Biden has stood by Israel since the October 7 attacks, visiting the country shortly afterwards, and the United States has continued to supply its key ally with billions of dollars in aid.

But Biden has been increasingly vocal in his criticisms of the Palestinian death toll and dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. Democrats fear growing opposition at home could hurt his chances in November’s presidential election.

Netanyahu said in a statement after the call that he had reiterated “Israel’s commitment to achieving all of the war’s objectives.”

The Israeli premier cited the objectives as eliminating Hamas, release of all the hostages and “ensuring that Gaza will never present a threat to Israel.”

He also pointed to the provision of “essential humanitarian aid that helps achieve these aims.”

Israel began relentless bombardment in Gaza, alongside a ground offensive, after Palestinian militant group Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack, which left about 1,160 dead in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

The militants also seized hostages, around 130 of whom Israel believes remain in Gaza, including 33 presumed dead.

Nearly 32,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

As tensions with Netanyahu escalated, Biden pointedly praised a “good speech” last week by Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer calling for new elections in Israel.

With the UN warning of imminent famine in Gaza, Biden earlier this month ordered the US military to start airdrops of food into the enclave, and is sending American forces to build a temporary port for maritime aid.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)