Netanyahu rejects U.S. plea to halt Rafah attack, agrees to talk in Washington
People's Daily Online
(Xinhua) 09:18, March 20, 2024
JERUSALEM, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday rejected the U.S. call to cancel a ground operation in Rafah city, where about 1.5 million displaced Palestinians resided, but agreed to send a delegation to Washington for discussions.
The White House confirmed in a statement that Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed in a phone call on Monday, that their teams would meet "soon" in Washington to "exchange views and discuss alternative approaches" to a major ground operation in Rafah.
Netanyahu's office said in a statement that the delegation, led by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, will be dispatched next week "for the sake of the continuation of the fighting."
Earlier on Tuesday, Netanyahu said in an address to the parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that a ground assault is the only way to defeat Hamas militants in Rafah. He said he "made it as clear as possible" to Biden that Israel is "determined to complete the elimination of (Hamas) battalions in Rafah, and there is no way to do this without a ground incursion."
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