The American president, Joe Biden, maintained this Sunday a new telephone conversation with the Israeli prime ministerBenjamin Netanyahu, to whom he conveyed his “clear position” on the planned Israeli military offensive on Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
“The leaders have spoken about Rafah and the president has reiterated his clear position”the White House said in an official statement about the call.
Washington has warned that it will not support an Israeli military operation that does not offer protection for the more than one million displaced Palestinians who have taken refuge in Rafah and questions the ability to adequately evacuate and care for such a number of civilians.
The US presidential statement reiterates America's “unwavering commitment” to Israel's security and remembers the defense against the drones and missiles launched by Iran against Israel on the night of April 13 to 14.
Likewise, Biden and Netanyahu tried “negotiations underway to achieve the release of the hostages and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza”as well as the need to increase humanitarian aid entering the Palestinian enclave and refers to the imminent opening of a new border crossing in northern Gaza next week.
“The president has stressed the need for this progress to be sustained and improve with full coordination with humanitarian organizations“added the White House.
Almost twenty dead in Rafah
At least 19 Palestinian citizens died this Sunday night after a bombing by the Israeli Army in Rafah. One of the attacks hit a home in the east of the cityending the lives of four Palestinians, two of them children, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.
The bombings also destroyed another house, where displaced people were housedin a central neighborhood of the city, where six people lost their lives, and another five died after an attack on a family's home in an area located in the south of the city.
The Israeli Army began an offensive on the Palestinian enclave in the wake of the October 7 attacks by the Islamist group Hamas, which left 1,200 dead and 240 hostages, of whom a hundred have already been released.
Since then, Palestinian authorities have reported the deaths of more than 34,300 citizens in the Stripto which another 480 Palestinians are added in the West Bank and East Jerusalem due to the operations of the security forces and the actions of Israeli settlers.