Biden told Netanyahu that a plan for the security of Rafah residents is needed before a military attack

(Patria) - President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a military operation in the overcrowded city of Rafah in southern Gaza should not proceed unless a plan for "ensuring the security" of the population is first developed, the White House said, AFP reported.

Rafah, on the border with Egypt, has remained the last refuge for Palestinians fleeing Israeli bombing elsewhere in the Gaza Strip in its four-month war against Hamas, which was launched by the group's attack on October 7, killing about 1,160 Israelis.

The United States, the United Nations, and foreign governments have expressed deep concern about Netanyahu's plans to invade the city, which is packed with about 1.4 million people, many living in tents amid dwindling supplies of food, water, and medicine.

Biden "reaffirmed his position that a military operation in Rafah should not proceed without a credible and implementable plan to ensure the security and support for the more than a million people sheltering there," the White House stated.

Netanyahu insisted that the Rafah operation would continue "and that it will provide safe passage for the civilian population so they can leave." When asked where the population should go, Netanyahu said in an interview broadcast on Sunday, "You know, the areas we have cleared north of Rafah, there are plenty of areas there. But, we are working on a detailed plan."

Not entering Rafah and not confronting Hamas battalions in Rafah would mean losing the war, the prime minister said.

"The President reaffirmed our shared goal of seeing Hamas defeated and ensuring the long-term security of Israel and its people," the White House statement said.

"He also called for urgent and concrete steps to increase the flow and consistency of humanitarian assistance to innocent Palestinian civilians," it added.

This conversation is the first announced contact between Biden and Netanyahu since the US president said he considered Israel's military campaign in Gaza to be "over the top."

"There are a lot of innocent people who are hungry, a lot of innocent people who are in trouble, dying, and that has to stop," Biden told reporters on Thursday, in comments widely seen as an escalation of his tone against Israel.

Gaza's Ministry of Health says the massive Israeli offensive since October 7 has killed at least 28,064 people, mostly women and children.