President Biden pushes for ceasefire in talks with Israeli PM Netanyahu

US President Joe Biden on March 19 commented on his conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Today, I spoke again with Prime Minister Netanyahu regarding the latest developments in Israel and Gaza. I continued to affirm that Israel has a right to go after Hamas, a group of terrorists responsible for the worst massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Caliber.Az quotes Biden as saying on his page on social network X.

In the publication, Biden reiterated the need for an immediate ceasefire as part of a deal to free hostages, lasting several weeks, to get hostages home and surge aid to civilians in Gaza.

“I asked the Prime Minister to send a team to Washington to discuss ways to target Hamas without a major ground operation in Rafah,” the president added.

Meanwhile, during a White House press briefing, US Presidential National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan cited three reasons for the Joe Biden administration's concern over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announced massive Israeli offensive on the town of Rafah on the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt.

The presidential adviser noted that more than one million people have taken refuge in Rafah after repeatedly fleeing other cities in the Gaza Strip: “First, more than a million people have taken refuge in Rafah. They went from Gaza City to Khan Younis and then to Rafah. And they have nowhere else to go. Gaza’s other major cities have largely been destroyed. And Israel has not presented us or the world with a plan for how or where they would safely move those civilians, let alone feed and house them and ensure access to basic things like sanitation.”

“Second, Rafah is a primary entry point for humanitarian assistance into Gaza from Egypt and from Israel. An invasion would shut that down or at least put it at grave risk right at the moment when it is most sorely needed.

Third, Rafah is on the border with Egypt, which has voiced its deep alarm over a major military operation there and has even raised questions about its future relationship with Israel as a result of any impending military operation,” he added.