President Biden said Monday that Israel’s expected major ground assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah must not proceed without a “credible plan” to ensure the safety of the more than 1 million people there.
Mr Biden spoke after meeting on Monday afternoon with King Abdullah II of Jordan, a key figure in pushing for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, in the first face-to-face conversation between the two leaders since Israel-Hamas . the war began.
The president said he and the Jordanian monarch discussed ceasefire talks, with Mr Biden proposing a six-week pause in the fighting that could allow the release of hostages held by Hamas and the creation of something “more lasting”.
Mr. Biden said he was particularly concerned about the situation in Rafah, where Israeli forces carried out a rare rescue mission early Monday to free two men held hostage for more than four months and displaced Gazans fear an invasion that does not he will leave them nowhere to escape.
“A lot of people there have been displaced, displaced many times fleeing the violence in the north,” Mr. Biden said. “And now they are piled into Rafa, exposed and vulnerable. They must be protected.”
The visit came as the king sought to drum up international support for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza – which Mr Biden has repeatedly rejected – and as the US continued to press Israel to ease civilian casualties and displacement .
King Abdullah said an Israeli invasion of Rafah was “certain to cause another humanitarian disaster”.
“The situation is already unbearable for over a million people who have been pushed into Rafah since the start of the war,” he said. “We cannot stand by and let this continue. We need a lasting ceasefire now. This war must end.”
Before the meeting, John F. Kirby, a White House spokesman, said the US continued to reject the idea of a general ceasefire that would permanently end the fighting, but that President Biden also supports a humanitarian pause.
“We want to see the war end as soon as possible,” he said. “And we think one of the first steps that is critical to doing that is a humanitarian pause, a prolonged pause longer than we saw in November of a week, that would allow us to get all the hostages out, get more aid and help and then hopefully lead to discussions that can bring us closer to ending the conflict.”
Egypt and Qatar, acting as intermediaries between Israel and Hamas, have led talks aimed at ending the conflict and freeing hostages held in Gaza. The Biden administration has been actively involved in these negotiations, working publicly and behind the scenes to try to advance a ceasefire agreement.
CIA Director William J. Burns was expected to travel to Cairo for continued talks on Tuesday about the hostages, according to a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity about the talks. Mr. Burns’ planned trip was disclosed by a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.
While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week publicly rejected a Hamas proposal, Israeli officials have signaled that their government is still open to negotiations. The mere fact that more talks will take place in Cairo this week is seen as a positive sign.
Ahead of the meeting between Mr Biden and King Abdullah, the White House said they would talk about “efforts to bring a lasting end to the crisis” in Gaza, where health officials say more than 28,000 people have been killed since the start of the war.
Much of Jordan’s population is ethnically Palestinian, putting the country – a close US ally that has a peace treaty with Israel – in a difficult position as it deals with the aftermath of the war.
King Abdullah has repeatedly called for an immediate ceasefire and for more humanitarian aid to be delivered to Gaza. He led a summit in Jordan last month on the situation in the enclave and is working in concert with other Arab leaders to push for an end to the fighting.
Jordan and Israel share a border, in addition to maintaining a crucial regional alliance. The kingdom is the custodian of the Aqsa complex in Jerusalem, a key holy site in Islam that is also revered by Jews, who call it the Temple Mount. The compound has often been a source of contention between Israelis and Palestinians.
But relations between Jordan and Israel have become more strained in recent years. And since Israel launched a war of retaliation against Hamas in Gaza in response to the deadly Oct. 7 attacks, King Abdullah has repeatedly criticized the way Israel carried out its attack.
