US President Joe Biden said Israel needs to have a plan to ensure the safety of the roughly one million people sheltering there in Rafah before launching a military operation there.
He told this to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, when the pair spoke for 45 minutes, the White House revealed.
It said the conversation was focused largely on ongoing efforts to secure the release of the remaining 132 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
On Monday, Biden repeated his warning that Israel shouldn’t launch a full-scale attack on Rafah, "without a credible plan for ensuring the safety" of those living there.He said so many people are “exposed and vulnerable”.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby acknowledged there were "legitimate military targets" for Israel in Rafah, but said the Israelis must ensure their operations are designed to protect the lives of innocent civilians.
On the same day, Biden Jordan's King Abdullah II to Washington DC for talks on how to end the war and plan for afterwards.
The US leader said “every innocent life lost in Gaza is a tragedy” and had promised he would do "everything possible" to make an agreement happen: a pause to fighting for at least six weeks and the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas.
Although there are “gaps that remain, the key elements of the deal are on the table,” he added.
Abdullah said Biden's leadership was "key to addressing this conflict," as he raised the plight of the tens of thousands of civilians killed and wounded in the fighting.
"We need a lasting cease-fire now," the king said. "This war must end."
Israel's offensive has killed more than 28,000 Palestinians in the territory, displaced over 80% of the population and set off a massive humanitarian crisis, according to Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry.
The group, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians, said the majority of those killed are women and children. Israel claims to have killed about 10,000 Hamas fighters.
Biden, who has held out hope for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, added that he and the king discussed the need for the Palestinian Authority, which has some control over parts of the West Bank, to "urgently reform" to be ready to assume some authorities in Gaza if Hamas is removed from power.
"They must prepare to build a state that accepts peace, does not harbour terrorist groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad," Biden said.
Abdullah insisted that "Separation of the West Bank and Gaza cannot be accepted."
Israel says about 100 hostages remain in Hamas captivity after dozens were freed during a cease-fire in November.
Hamas also holds the remains of roughly 30 others who were either killed on October 7 or died in captivity.
