US President Joe Biden “reiterated his clear position” to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday after Israel defied US warnings and told Palestinians to evacuate part of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, the White House said.
The evacuation call followed disagreement between Israel and Hamas over the Palestinian militant group’s demands to end the seven-month war, during weekend negotiations in Cairo. Egyptian state-linked media said the talks stalled after a rocket attack claimed by Hamas’s armed wing killed four Israeli soldiers on Sunday.
Aid groups warned on Monday that Israel’s demand that Palestinians leave part of the southern Gaza city of Rafah could be “catastrophic” in the absence of a clear evacuation plan. Meanwhile, Netanyahu “agreed to ensure the Kerem Shalom crossing is open for humanitarian assistance for those in need,” the White House added in a readout of their call, after Israel closed the key Gaza border crossing following a Hamas rocket attack.
The evacuation order affected 100,000 people in eastern Rafah, according to the army, out of 1.2 million who are sheltering across Rafah. Many of them have been displaced from other parts of Gaza due to the Hamas-Israel war.
Israeli officials, led by Netanyahu, have vowed for months that troops would launch a ground offensive in Rafah where, they say, four Hamas battalions are entrenched, and have promised a safe evacuation of civilians without providing specific plans.
Residents of eastern Rafah were told to evacuate early Monday and head to the coastal area of Al-Mawasi, an Israeli-designated humanitarian zone adjacent to Rafah ahead of a “limited operation” by the army.
(With agency inputs)
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