Washington –
US President Joe Biden said in an MSNBC interview on Saturday that Israel’s threat to invade Rafah in southern Gaza would be a “red line” for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but then quickly backtracked. There is no line that should not be crossed, he said, “I would never do that.” I’m leaving Israel. ”
In a somewhat contradictory exchange with an interviewer, Biden said there was “no way that going after Hamas militants would result in the deaths of another 30,000 Palestinians.”
Biden and his aides have urged Netanyahu not to launch a major attack on Rafah until he has a plan in place for a mass evacuation of civilians from the last area of Gaza that Israel has not yet invaded with ground forces. . More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have taken refuge in the Rafah area.
“There are other ways to deal with, deal with, deal with the trauma caused by Hamas,” Biden said, referring to the Islamic extremist group’s insurgency that killed 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7. Told.
Asked if Israel’s invasion of Rafah was a red line for Prime Minister Netanyahu, Biden said: “It’s a red line, but I’m never going to leave Israel. The defense of Israel remains important. .Therefore, there is no line that should not be crossed.” (in that) I am cutting off all their weapons so they don’t have Iron Dome to protect them. ”
But Biden insisted that Netanyahu “must pay more attention to the innocent lives lost as a result of the actions taken.”
He renewed his call for a six-week ceasefire to free the hostages and provide relief supplies, but negotiations appear to have stalled.
Asked if there was a chance that a ceasefire could be reached before the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins around March 10, Biden said: “I think it’s always possible. I would never give up on that.”