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‘We Are Determined to Do This’: Netanyahu Reaffirms Intention to Launch Rafah Offensive After Biden Expresses ‘Deep’ Concern
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Feb. 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday reaffirmed his intention to launch a military offensive into Rafah — the Hamas terror group’s last stronghold in Gaza — despite US President Joe Biden’s warning against such a move just a day earlier.
“We are determined to complete the elimination of Hamas,” Netanyahu said in introductory remarks to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of Israel’s parliament, known as the Knesset. “This requires the elimination of the remaining battalions in Rafah and, of course, the 1.5 battalions in the camps in the center. We are determined to do this.”
Netanyahu’s comments came one day after Biden told Netanyahu that he has “deep concerns about the prospect of Israel conducting a major ground operation in Rafah, where more than one million displaced civilians are currently seeking shelter after fleeing fighting in the north,” according to a White House readout regarding their conversation.
The Israeli premier acknowledged the concern, saying, “We have a debate with the Americans over the need to enter Rafah, not over the need to eliminate Hamas, but the need to enter Rafah. We see no way to eliminate Hamas militarily without destroying these remaining battalions.”
At the same time, he said, “Out of respect for the president, we agreed on a way in which they can present us with their ideas, especially on the humanitarian side; of course, we fully share this desire to facilitate an orderly exit of the population and the providing of humanitarian aid to the civilian population. We have been doing this since the beginning of the war.”
The latest back and forth between Netanyahu and the Biden administration comes amid rising tensions between the leaders.
After US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who is Jewish, attacked Netanyahu on the Senate floor as a principal obstacle to peace between Israel and the Palestinians — and called for new elections in Israel to oust Netanyahu — Biden called it a “good speech.”
Many observers saw Schumer’s commentary on Israel’s domestic political affairs as inappropriate.
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations wrote in a statement that “at a time when Israel is fighting an existential war, on the embers of the 1,200 innocents massacred on Oct. 7, it is not a time for public criticisms that serve only to empower the detractors of Israel, and which foster greater divisiveness, when unity is so desperately needed.”
Netanyahu also addressed Schumer’s comments during an interview on CNN.
“It’s inappropriate to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership there,” Netanyahu said. “That’s something the Israeli public does on its own.”
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan called it “an interesting irony” that “the prime minister [is] speaking on American television about his concerns about Americans interfering in Israeli politics,” noting that he was asked by a reporter whether Americans should “be speaking into Israeli politics, which, in fact, we don’t do nearly as much as they speak into ours.”
“But that’s not a constructive answer to your question. Just an observation,” he added.
Biden has been under pressure from some of his political allies to limit future support for Israel, particularly if it moves forward with an operation in Rafah to root out Hamas.
Earlier this month a group of 37 Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to the White House suggesting an Israeli invasion of Rafah may violate its outlined conditions on aid. The lawmakers wrote: “While we continue to urge Israel to avoid an expanded operation in Rafah, we share your [Biden’s] obvious concern about the absence of a credible plan for the safety and support of the more than one million civilians sheltering in Rafah.”
They concluded such an operation “should not be supported by US taxpayer-funded assistance” when it “likely” violates “specific principles outlined” by the Biden administration.
The tension may start to fizzle out, or it could get stronger when US and Israeli officials meet in Washington, DC in the near future.
According to the White House, “the president and prime minster agreed to have their teams meet soon in Washington to exchange views and discuss alternative approaches that would target key elements of Hamas and secure the Egypt-Gaza border without a major ground operation in Rafah.”
The post ‘We Are Determined to Do This’: Netanyahu Reaffirms Intention to Launch Rafah Offensive After Biden Expresses ‘Deep’ Concern first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.