“The major military operation in Rafah should not proceed without a credible plan to ensure the safety and support of more than 1 million people sheltering there,” Biden said, referring to Israel’s publicly announced plans to invade the city. “Many people there have been displaced — displaced multiple times, fleeing the violence to the north. And now they’re packed into Rafah, exposed and vulnerable. They need to be protected.”
Abdullah was more direct. “We cannot afford an Israeli attack on Rafah. It is certain to create another humanitarian catastrophe,” the king said. Referring to the war more broadly, he added: “We cannot stand by and let this continue. We need a lasting ceasefire now. This war must end.”
Biden himself has not publicly called for a ceasefire, saying Israel must be allowed to defend itself by rooting out and destroying Hamas’s base of operations in Gaza. But his willingness to stand alongside an Arab leader who did issue such a call was notable.
U.S. officials privately have told members of Congress that Israel is not close to eliminating Hamas, the stated goal of its military campaign, more than 100 days into the war, according to officials familiar with the briefing, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a private exchange.
The joint comments by the president and the king Monday came after Biden met privately with Abdullah at the White House, the first face-to-face discussion the president has held with an Arab leader since the Israel-Gaza war began in October. The meeting came as U.S. officials have expressed deep concern about Israel’s plans to target the tiny town of Rafah, which borders Egypt and where about 1.3 million Palestinians are living in decrepit conditions after fleeing there under Israeli orders.
Despite Biden’s growing willingness to publicly challenge Israel’s conduct of the war, he and his top aides have not publicly supported restricting aid to Israel or imposing conditions on it, as many of the president’s liberal critics demand. And while National Security Council spokesman John Kirby last week said an Israeli operation in Rafah “would be a disaster for those people, and we would not support it,” the White House has not threatened specific consequences if Israel proceeds with its plans.
An Israeli operation overnight Sunday in Rafah succeeded in rescuing two hostages, but it also killed at least 67 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, raising fears among Arab leaders that a sustained Israeli operation there could kill and injure thousands more. The planned Rafah operation has also escalated fears of a forced displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians, as Arab leaders fear they will be pushed into Egypt — a goal that far-right cabinet members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have openly embraced.
Biden reiterated Monday that he and his top aides are working urgently to negotiate a six-week pause in the fighting between Israel and Hamas in exchange for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas, saying that could lay the groundwork for a permanent end to the war.
At a time when Biden has faced increasing criticism from Arab-American and Muslim voters angry over his staunch support for Israel and what they describe as a lack of empathy for Palestinians, Biden found a welcome ally in Abdullah….
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