Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with President Biden on Sunday for the first time since the US leader called Israel’s war on Hamas “over the top” — and as Israel prepared to attack the controversial Rafah.
The 45-minute phone call came after Netanyahu told “Fox News Sunday” that he had not spoken to his close ally since Thursday, when Biden publicly criticized the prime minister’s war campaign against the Palestinian terror group Hamas — with Bibi emphatically adding that America would be more worse in the same situation.
“I don’t know exactly what he means by that,” Netanyahu claimed of Biden saying last week, “I’m of the view that the response in the Gaza Strip has gone too far.
“Look, we are under attack in the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Netanyahu said. “The massacre on October 7th is the equivalent of 20 9/11s in one day and the equivalent of 50,000 Americans slaughtered, burned, mutilated, raped, beheaded, and 10,000 Americans held hostage, including mothers and children.
“So, what is America’s response? I would say it’s at least as strong as Israel and a lot of Americans tell me, ‘We’re going to flatten them. We will turn it to dust,’” Netanyahu added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the US would act tougher than Israel against Hamas under similar circumstances. FOX
The two leaders finally spoke again Sunday afternoon to discuss Israel’s war effort and the need to free hostages held by Hamas, with Biden specifically urging the Jewish state to reduce civilian casualties in Gaza as it continues to try to destroy the terrorist network, according to Home White.
The president warned Israel not to proceed to the southern Gaza city of Rafah “without a credible and workable plan to ensure safety and support for the more than one million people taking refuge there.”
Some 1.4 million refugees are currently housed in Rafah after fleeing the war that has consumed most of the Gaza Strip, with civilians now caught between the border and the encroaching fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas.
The US has condemned Israel’s ongoing incursion into Rafah, now Gaza’s most populous city where more than a million refugees have fled during the war. AP Although he openly supports Israel’s war against Hamas, sources say Biden is fed up with Netanyahu, no longer seen as a productive ally. via REUTERS
With Sunday’s phone call ending with Biden and Netanyahu agreeing to “remain in close contact,” it appears the two leaders may have mended recent rifts that formed after Biden’s criticism of the war Thursday.
Netanyahu justified the IDF’s advance across Gaza to Fox as a necessary action to eliminate Hamas and avoid another October 7, where more than 1,200 people were brutally murdered in Israel by terrorists, thereby launching a war.
Although Biden initially showed strong support for Israel in Gaza, the president became more critical after reports highlighted the civilian casualties of the war.
Biden has repeatedly expressed concern over the civilian casualties in Gaza, with the death toll now exceeding 28,000. AP
The death toll in the Palestinian territories has exceeded 28,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and terrorists. Near the end of January, the US estimated that about 9,000 Hamas terrorists had been killed.
Along with the death toll, Biden and Netanyahu have clashed over the future of Gaza once the war ends, with reports claiming that the president abruptly hung up the phone during a heated call that marked a weeks-long lull in talks.
While Biden has kept much of his criticism of Netanyahu private, his top aides have urged him to be more open about his problems with the Israeli leader, a source familiar with their private discussions told the Washington Post.
An explosion was seen in southern Gaza on Sunday as the IDF prepared to attack one of its southernmost cities. AP
“I don’t think anyone can look at what Israel has done in Gaza and not say it’s over the top,” one senior official said of Biden’s alleged long-held criticism.
“This creates frustration for the Israeli people. Have they done any work on what will happen next in Gaza? Nope. They don’t struggle with those very difficult questions.”
A White House outside adviser said of Israel’s pending incursion into Rafah, where refugees from other parts of war-torn Gaza have fled to, “They’re already living in tents and not getting enough food and water, and you say go somewhere other?
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“Where? How are they going to get there?”
Biden’s patience is also allegedly being tested as he sees his political points falling among young Democrats because of his staunch support for Israel, while Netanyahu undermines the work of US officials trying to push for peace in the Gaza war, the source added.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Netanyahu last week to discuss Hamas’ response to the draft peace deal. Israel’s prime minister ultimately rejected the plan outright, calling it “fanciful” – despite Blinken’s comments that it could still be salvaged.
With the war consuming the entire Gaza Strip, almost all of its inhabitants have fled to its south and are now trapped between the border and the approaching Israeli army. AP
As the US, Qatar and Egypt sought to broker a ceasefire to help free more than 130 Israeli hostages living in Gaza, Netanyahu reiterated Sunday that the only way to free the captives and end the war is through military force.
“Victory is within reach,” Netanyahu said. “We have destroyed three quarters of the terrorist battalion organized by Hamas. Three quarters, 18 out of 24 – we’re not going to leave the other six.”
He also rejected the idea of a Palestinian-Israeli two-state solution, which has been promoted by Biden and European leaders.
Palestinians walk through the rubble left by Israeli airstrikes in Rafah. AP
“I don’t think a two-state solution is possible, and, even if it is possible, it is not recommended,” Netanyahu said. “For more than 50 years, hundreds of self-proclaimed ‘peacemakers,’ led by the United States, have tried to force Israel and Palestine into a two-state solution.
“The effort has repeatedly failed regardless of who is responsible,” he added.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
