United States President Joe Biden on Sunday urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to undertake a military operation in Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, “without a credible and feasible plan” to protect the population, the House said White.
Gaza response “excessive”
In a telephone call, the American president “reaffirmed his opinion that a military operation in Rafah should not take place without a credible and feasible plan to guarantee the security (…) of the more than a million people there. taking refuge there,” reported the American executive in a press release.
“He further called for urgent and specific measures to increase the pace and regularity of humanitarian assistance to innocent Palestinian civilians,” adds the White House.
The call between the two leaders comes as Joe Biden has begun to raise his voice towards Israel.
“I think, as you know, that the response in Gaza, in the Gaza Strip, was excessive,” the American president said Thursday evening.
“There are many innocent people who are dying of hunger, many innocent people who are in difficulty, who are dying, and this must stop,” he added, emphasizing pressure “very strong, very very strong, so that humanitarian aid reaches Gaza.
A “secure passage” provided by the army, according to Benjamin Netanyahu
In an interview with American television channel ABC News and broadcast on Sunday, the Israeli Prime Minister assured that the army would ensure “secure passage” before the planned assault on the city of Rafah.
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“Victory is within reach.
We are going to do it.
We will take the last terrorist battalions of Hamas and Rafah, which is the last stronghold,” he said.
We will do it (…) while ensuring safe passage for the civilian population so that they can leave the premises.
“We are developing a detailed system to achieve this,” added the Israeli leader, refusing to approach the situation “casually”.
1.3 million Palestinian refugees
Located in the far south of the coastal territory, near the Egyptian border, the city's population has increased more than fivefold in recent weeks, with the arrival of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the war.
More than 1.3 million Palestinians have taken refuge there.
Since Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the army to prepare an offensive on the city, the international community has been concerned about the fate of the civilian populations there.
The Israeli Prime Minister responded to critics worrying about the fate of civilians in the event of an offensive on Rafah: "those who say that we absolutely must not enter Rafah are in reality telling us that we must lose war, and leave Hamas there.”
“We are doing everything possible to minimize civilian casualties”
The war was sparked on October 7 by an unprecedented Hamas attack in southern Israel, which left more than 1,160 dead, mostly civilians killed that day, according to an AFP count carried out in from official Israeli data.
In retaliation, Israel vowed to “destroy” Hamas, which it considers a terrorist organization, as do the United States and the European Union in particular.
The Israeli army launched an offensive which left 28,176 people dead in Gaza, the vast majority of them women, children and adolescents, according to a report released on Sunday by the Islamist movement's Ministry of Health.
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Speaking on the results of the war, Benjamin Netanyahu said that it was necessary to be “cautious with Hamas statistics”.
“We have killed and injured more than 20,000 Hamas terrorists, including around 12,000 fighters,” he said, without explaining the distinction made between “terrorists” and “fighters”.
“We are doing everything possible to minimize civilian casualties,” he also said.
“We have reduced the number of civilian victims compared to that of terrorists, (we have brought) the ratio to less than 1:1,” he assured.
A “collective punishment”
The head of the UN, Antonio Guterres, who calls for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza, last month denounced “the collective punishment inflicted on the Palestinian people”.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, for its part, cited “Israel’s recurring failures” to respect the principles of international humanitarian law, including those of “distinction, proportionality and precaution” in the conduct of hostilities.