“I asked the Prime Minister to send a team to Washington to discuss ways to target Hamas without a major ground operation in Rafah,” Biden said on X after speaking to Netanyahu for the first time in more than a month.Biden also “reiterated the need for an immediate ceasefire as part of a deal to free hostages, lasting several weeks, so we can get hostages home and surge aid to civilians in Gaza.”Roughly 1.5 million people are sheltering in Rafah, most of them displaced by Israel’s relentless assault on other parts of Gaza since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.The White House earlier said Biden had warned Netanyahu that an offensive on Rafah would be a “mistake”, in their first call since February 15.”A major ground operation there would be a mistake,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters.”It would lead to more innocent civilian deaths, worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen the anarchy in Gaza, and further isolate Israel internationally.”
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