Biden calls on Israel not to risk the safety of 1.5 million with planned offensive in Rafah amid Hamas war

Joe Biden yesterday called on Israel to ‘not proceed’ with military action in southern Gaza without planning for the evacuation of Palestinian civilians.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing growing international warnings over his army’s planned offensive in Rafah amid its war with Hamas.

According to the White House, Mr Biden told Mr Netanyahu last night that the Israel Defence Forces ‘should not proceed without a credible and executable plan for ensuring the safety of and support for the more than one million people sheltering there’.

But Mr Netanyahu has rejected concerns about civilian casualties in Rafah, declaring: ‘Victory is in reach.’

He insisted that there would be no turning back despite the clamour over the huge death toll and the loss of two more hostages.

Joe Biden yesterday called on Israel to ‘not proceed’ with military action in southern Gaza without planning for the evacuation of Palestinian civilians

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing growing international warnings over his army’s planned offensive in Rafah amid its war with Hamas

Mr Netanyahu also admitted there were ongoing ‘disagreements’ with Mr Biden but defended the US President, whose memory has been called into question, saying he had found him ‘clear and focused’.

Rafah, on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, is the last remaining stronghold for Hamas following four months of fighting since the October 7 massacre on Israel, which saw 1,200 people murdered and at least 250 abducted.

But international unease has been growing over the welfare of civilians in the region, which is providing refuge to around 1.5million Palestinians who have been displaced by the conflict.

As well as the risk from military engagement, there are desperate shortages of food and medical care for non-combatants.

British Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron revealed his disquiet at the next phase of Israel’s military operation on X, writing: ‘Deeply concerned about the prospect of a military offensive in Rafah – over half of Gaza’s population are sheltering in the area.

‘The priority must be an immediate pause in the fighting to get aid in and hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire.’

Cabinet minister Michael Gove echoed the Foreign Secretary’s warning on the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday programme, saying while it was ‘absolutely right to deal with the terrorist threat’, the Palestinian people ‘need and deserve’ aid and support.

Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy tweeted on Friday that an Israeli offensive in Rafah would be ‘catastrophic’.

The latest figures from the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza have put the overall Palestinian death toll at more than 28,000.

At least 44 people, including more than a dozen children, were reported killed by Israeli air strikes in Rafah on Saturday.

Palestinians inspect damaged apartment buildings  after Israeli attacks in Rafah, Gaza on February 11

At least 44 people, including more than a dozen children, were reported killed by Israeli air strikes in Rafah on Saturday

The latest figures from the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza have put the overall Palestinian death toll at more than 28,000

Hamas’s armed wing, the Al Qassam Brigades, said on the same day that two Israeli hostages had been killed and another eight seriously injured by air strikes over the past 96 hours.

Mr Netanyahu yesterday insisted efforts had been made to minimise civilian casualties in Gaza, including dropping fliers and telephoning Palestinian citizens to evacuate combat zones, since the Israel Defence Force launched its retaliatory incursion.

But he repeated that this was being hampered by the use of civilians as human shields.

Speaking on ABC News’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos, the Israeli leader, who has been rejecting Hamas’s latest ceasefire proposals, said: ‘I think we’re doing the right thing. And let me tell you one other thing – we’re going to win this thing. Victory is within reach.’

Asked about the pleas by hostages’ families for negotiations to be transferred to a party ‘committed to saving their lives’, he added that 110 had been released ‘because we applied military pressure, not because we stopped applying it’.

He also backed President Biden, who was last week described by a special counsel as an ‘elderly man with a poor memory’ who couldn’t remember when his son died.

Mr Netanyahu said that during a dozen extended phone conversations and President Biden’s recent wartime visit to Israel, he had ‘found him very clear and very focused’.

The Israeli leader added: ‘Sometimes we had disagreements but they weren’t borne of a lack of understanding on his part.’

Hamas freed more than 100 Israeli and other foreign hostages in exchange for Israel releasing about 240 Palestinian prisoners during a week-long truce in November.

Israel’s chief military spokesman, rear admiral Daniel Hagari, said last week that 31 of the remaining hostages were dead. Some 136 are still being held in Gaza.