Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, rescheduled his team’s visit to the White House after canceling it on March 25th. The meeting devoted to Rafah will also be rescheduled, according to the prime minister’s office.
Following the US decision to abstain from voting on a resolution calling for an emergency humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza for the remainder of Ramadan and possibly beyond, Israel withdrew its delegation earlier this week.
There was no mention of a temporary ceasefire in the resolution, but it did demand an immediate release of captives held by Hamas militants. The resolution said that a permanent and long-term ceasefire should follow.
Following Israel’s decision to cancel the delegation’s scheduled visit, the White House expressed disappointment and confusion.
The decision to reschedule was made after fruitful conversations between Biden’s Cabinet members and Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. One of the several subjects covered during sessions was Rafah, a municipality in the southern part of Gaza that borders Egypt.
According to Netanyahu, the only way to defeat Hamas is for the Israel Defense Forces to storm Rafah and defeat the remaining battalions of the Hamas terrorist organization.
The White House fears Israel would not take sufficient measures to avoid harming civilians in its offensive against Hamas.
During their operation against terrorists, the Israeli Defense Forces found a significant weapons stash at Gaza’s Shifa Hospital. After they evacuated the hospital last November, they discovered many tunnels, which allowed terrorists to reestablish operations there. There were no civilian deaths or injuries to physicians, patients, or staff in the two weeks after the IDF’s capture of 500 additional terrorists and the killing of around 200 of them in response to fire from Shifa.
According to Netanyahu, the last remaining Hamas battalions must be eliminated by invading Rafah in southern Gaza. The repatriation of captives is an essential component of the war’s objectives, which include entering Rafah and eradicating Hamas forces. Even if the US and other nations have warned against it, Netanyahu is certain that it is essential to victory in the conflict, and most Israelis who are against Hamas’ reestablishment in power agree with him.
