Biden's sharpest warning to Israel

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Biden's new warning to Netanyahu 

 

Wolfgang Hansson  

 

This is a commenting text. Analysis and positions are the writer's.  

 

Published 19.45  

 

Biden emphasizes that the United States is working "day and night" to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza. Photo: Evan Vucci/AP 

 

Here is President Joe Biden's latest warning to Benjamin Netanyahu:  

 

Do not launch a ground offensive in Rafah without first finding a safe place for the civilian population.  

 

But will Israel's prime minister listen this time? 

 

He hasn't done it before.  

 

This despite the fact that Israel would not be able to wage its war in Gaza if it were not for weapons and financial support from the United States.  

 

Biden seems to be increasingly irritated by Netanyahu's disobedience and has gradually raised the tone. Last week he called Israel's conduct of war "over the top".  

 

Now Netanyahu has announced that Israel plans to send tanks and ground troops to the border town of Rafah, near Egypt. Here Israel claims Hamas has its last real stronghold. The Israeli military claims to have knocked out 18 of Hamas' 24 brigades. Four of the remaining ones should be in Rafah. 

 

The problem is that the Israeli army urged the Palestinian population to flee to Rafah after they were previously forced from their homes in northern Gaza and Khan Yunis. 

 

Joe Biden. Photo: Evan Vucci/AP   

 

According to the UN, over a million Gazans live in tents or other makeshift housing in Rafah. If Israel launches a heavy military offensive, it will inevitably mean a large number of civilian casualties.  

 

Israel says it intends to evacuate the civilian population to northern Gaza. However, many of the residential buildings there are in ruins. In addition, the UN reports that very little of the aid entering Gaza reaches the northern parts. Here there are people who are starving.  

 

Evacuating a million people in the middle of a war is an extremely difficult task at best. At worst, impossible. 

 

- Where will they go, wonders the EU's "Foreign Minister" Joseph Borell. To the moon?  

 

Israel is also running out of time. The military wants to launch the offensive in time to knock out the remaining Hamas forces before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan begins on March 10. 

 

Far too short a time, Biden believes. 

 

Hans is call for Israel not to launch a ground offensive in Rafah before Ramadan is one of his sharpest and most public rebukes of Netanyahu so far. 

 

- A major military operation in Rafah should not be carried out without a credible plan to protect the more than one million people who have sought refuge there, Biden said after a meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah.  

 

Biden's warning serves several functions.  

 

It sets a clear, public limit on what the United States can accept regarding Israel's war in Gaza.  Although Netanyahu has not heeded previous calls to better protect the civilian population, the line is approaching where Biden is losing patience.  

 

After refusing to speak directly with Netanyahu for almost a month, Biden had what was described as a "very frank" conversation with the prime minister on Sunday. It probably means that Biden was really pissed off. 

 

Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: Evan Vucci/AP 

 

With  his puplic criticism, Biden is also trying to protect himself. The US has been criticized internationally for continuing to send weapons and ammunition to Israel, which is a decisive reason for the large number of civilian casualties. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority in Gaza, the death toll is approaching 30,000 for just over four months of warfare. 

 

With the warning, Biden can refer to having tried to persuade Israel to better protect the civilian population and hope that it can at least somewhat dampen criticism in the Arab world and elsewhere.  

 

Biden also emphasized that the United States is working "day and night" to bring about a truce that would mean at least a six-week pause in the fighting while part of the hostages would be released.  

 

Even a message that goes directly against Netanyahu's wishes. He has always said that a ceasefire would only benefit Hamas.  

 

Netanyahu repeats time and time again that his goal is a "total victory" over Hamas. Most Israelis agree on the objective, but the prime minister is at the same time harshly criticized at home for not caring enough about the fate of the hostages. There are still roughly 130 Israelis still in the hands of Hamas.  

 

Yesterday, Israel managed to free two men from the hostages. One of the few occasions when Israel managed to free some prisoners by military means. Instead, many of the hostages were apparently killed in Israeli bombings. 

 

The hostage release also came at the cost of at least 67 dead Palestinians when Israel bombed nearby buildings. 

 

Talks on a longer truce have been ongoing for weeks under intense mediation by the United States, Egypt and Qatar. So far it has fallen to unrealistic demands from Hamas and a reluctance on Netanyahu's part to agree to any ceasefire at all.  

 

But Biden is also under heavy pressure at home, where many of those who voted for him in the 2020 presidential election are now distancing themselves from his one-sided support for Israel. That development must be reversed by Biden in good time before the election in November. Then the war must be ended whether Netanyahu wants it or not.

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