Israel team to visit US over Biden concerns on Rafah, Gaza ‘anarchy’
- US president and Israeli prime minister speak for the first time in a month amid growing tensions over the Gaza war
- Israeli officials will visit Washington to discuss with Biden administration officials a prospective Rafah operation
US President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday that an Israeli military operation in Rafah would deepen anarchy in Gaza and they agreed that teams from each side would meet in Washington to discuss it, the White House said.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters the two countries would have a comprehensive discussion on the way forward in Gaza, where a humanitarian crisis is raging after six months of fighting.
The meeting could happen this week or next, Sullivan said, and no Rafah operation would proceed before the talks.
“Anarchy reigns in areas that Israel’s military has cleared, but not stabilised” in Gaza and a humanitarian crisis would deepen if Israel were to go ahead with an offensive in Rafah, Sullivan said, summarising Biden’s message to Netanyahu.
“We’ve had many discussions in many different levels between our military, our intelligence, our diplomats or humanitarian experts, but we have not yet had the opportunity to have an all-encompassing comprehensive, integrated, strategic discussion …,” he said.
