WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday morning as a potential ground assault in Rafah looms and as negotiations over a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel have stalled. A White House readout of the call said Biden updated Netanyahu "on efforts to secure a hostage deal" including through talks happening Monday in the Qatari capital, Doha. "The Prime Minister agreed to ensure the Kerem Shalom crossing is open for humanitarian assistance for...
President Biden on Monday spoke with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reiterating his concerns during the conversation about an Israeli ground invasion of Rafah, even as Israel appeared po
Biden will pause more offensive military assistance to Israel if it goes through with the operation.
Israel and Hamas appear to be seriously negotiating an end to the war in Gaza and the return of Israeli hostages.
{beacon} Welcome to The Hill's Defense & NatSec newsletter {beacon} Defense &National Security Defense &National Security The Big Story As Israel chokes off Rafah, US scrambles to salvage cease-fire talks The White House on Tuesday pushed to finalize a cease-fire agreement that would pause fighting in Gaza, even as Israel carried out a
President Biden is vowing to withhold weapons from Israel if the Jewish State goes forward with its invasion of Rafah, Hamas' last stronghold in Gaza. "Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers," Biden told CNN’s Erin Burnett in an interview released Wednesday. "I made it clear that if they go into Rafah – they haven’t gone in Rafah yet – if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used...
It’s a moment of truth for Biden’s policy on Israel and the Palestinians – and at the least will make continued prevarication harder to disguiseWhen Israeli troops paraded through the Rafah crossing with an oversized star of David on Tuesday morning, they were making a point to Hamas – and at the same time driving up to the very edge of Joe Biden’s “red line”.The Biden administration avoids that phrase at all costs. Its top officials also served Barack Obama, who drew a red line he did not...
TEL AVIV — A high-level Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Saturday as months of stop-start talks for a cease-fire and hostage release deal appear to have reached a crucial stage, even as Israel continued to threaten a ground offensive in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah that United Nations officials have warned will worsen the civilian death toll and deepen the enclave’s humanitarian crisis. American and Egyptian negotiators indicated there had been signs of compromise in recent days. Hamas said...
US President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday, 8 May, that he would suspend certain deliveries of American weapons to Israel if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decides on an invasion of Rafah, admitting that these arms have been employed in Gaza, resulting in civilian casualties. “Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers,” Biden told CNN. The Biden administration has faced remarkable pressure, even from...
“This is not what we’ve been worried about,” said a U.S. official.
A White House spokesman said military operations in Rafah "could potentially put more than a million innocent people at greater risk."
Israel began striking targets in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, its leaders said Monday, hours after Hamas announced it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal. Still, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would send negotiators to continue talks on the deal. The high-stakes diplomatic moves and military brinkmanship left