US warns Israel over its war conduct as Biden-Netanyahu rift emerges
Category: News & Politics
Via: gregtx • 8 months ago • 14 commentsBy: Naomi Lim (Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress the President and the Federal Government)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
President Joe Biden continues to support Israel's war against Hamas, but as the war drags on, daylight has emerged between him and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Biden, long the Israel backer throughout his political career, has repeatedly affirmed U.S. support for Israel's right to defend itself and go after Hamas in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks that left roughly 1,200 people dead.
Israel's latest war aims are to continue their operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians have fled at the insistence of the Israeli military. Israeli leaders have said they are evaluating how to evacuate the Palestinian civilian population in Rafah, though their intention remains unclear, despite global concerns about the grave possibility of a significant number of civilian deaths.
The United States does not support an Israeli wide-scale operation in Rafah without significant planning for the civilians, while Israeli leaders have maintained that they have to carry out operations in Rafah to complete its goals of eliminating Hamas, given it's the last remaining part of the strip they haven't operated in.
"I've made the case and I feel very strongly about it that there has to be a temporary ceasefire to get the prisoners out, the hostages out, and that is still underway," Biden said on Friday. "I'm hopeful that can be done, and in the meantime I don't anticipate, I'm hoping that the Israelis will not make any massive land invasion in the meantime. So it's my expectation that does not happen."
The U.S. president recently admonished Israel's actions in Gaza as "over the top," despite Israel's insistence that they are trying to limit civilian deaths, even as urban warfare is known for high casualty counts.
Biden, however, still supports their overall war aims of removing Hamas from power in the strip, a goal that Israeli leaders argue has not been accomplished yet and would go unfulfilled if they don't operate in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Hamas has gone to significant lengths to embed itself within and underneath the Palestinian civilian communities with a web of tunnels, making Israel's efforts to prevent civilian casualties even more difficult. Israel has carried out complex operations at various hospitals in Gaza, in which Hamas was using the protected facilities for war purposes.
"POTUS strongly supports Israel's right to defend itself from Hamas. We also have said that the way they do so matters. Not an inherent contradiction," an NSC spokesperson told the Washington Examiner , adding that they "recognize it's a challenge" when Hamas is hiding among large and protected civilian populations like at hospitals and schools.
Despite Hamas's attempts to incur civilian casualties by the Israeli forces, the U.S. believes that does not absolve Israel's responsibility for defending those civilians.
More than 27,000 people have been killed in the war, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, though that total does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
"I think we've responded in a way that goes after the terrorists and tries to minimize the civilian population in which the terrorists embed themselves and use them as human shields," Netanyahu said last week. "I'd be cautious with the Hamas statistics, and I can tell you that according to these urban warfare experts and other commentators, we've brought down the civilian-to-terrorist casualty, the ratio down, to below 1-to-1, which is considerably less than in any other theater of similar warfare."
Netanyahu did not provide proof to support his claim that they are now killing more terrorists than civilians, but it demonstrates the difficulty of the task of going after a group that is intentionally hiding among and often directly below civilians.
John Spencer, chairman of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, argued last month that "Israel has implemented more measure to prevent civilian casualties in urban warfare than any other military in the history of war," and referenced Israel's communications with Palestinians ahead of strikes via phone or roof-knocking and evacuations, and the decision to delay its initial fighting in northern Gaza.
Vice President Kamala Harris met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Friday, and according to a readout of their meeting, she reiterated the "administration's position that a military operation in Rafah should not proceed without a credible and executable plan for ensuring the safety of and support for the more than 1 million people sheltering there."
As concerns about Rafah mount, the U.S. continues to push for a temporary ceasefire to secure the release of the Israeli hostages held since the Oct. 7 attacks, in addition to looking ahead to what comes after the war ends. There are believed to be about 130 people still held hostage, though it's unclear whether they are still alive.
Biden remains committed to getting Israel and Hamas to agree to a temporary ceasefire that would include the release of the hostages, including six Americans, in exchange for a cessation of the war and the increase of humanitarian aid into the strip.
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Obviously racists...
Just let Israel finish the job
Hamas is solely responsible for any and all civilian deaths, being as the started this war.
When do you think that the killing will stop when every Hamas terrorist is dead? that is not going to happen. You cannot defeat an ideology and for every civilian you kill or members of their family, you've created another terrorist. IMO, Netanyahu wants all of the West Bank for Israel which he is proving currently and at some time all of Gaza.
These wars have been going on since the foundation of Israel and with the current attitudes they will not stop anytime soon if at all.
Did you forget the /s? Of course, Egypt is building a wall they currently have somewhere between 100K and 150K living in Egypt and Hamas started in Egypt when it was the Muslim Brotherhood. They sure don't want them back under any name.
Both Sisi of Egypt and Abdullah of Jordan have warned Israel not to try and push Palestinians into their countries or it could end the peace between them.
Forgot this portion, Biden is going to be forced into the same situation that Reagan was in in the 1980s when Israel was bombing Beirut and killing thousands of Lebanese civilians. Regan called Menachem Begin and told him he was creating a Holocaust, Begin being a survivor it must have hit him very hard and the bombing stopped. Tens of thousands of Lebanese were killed but the bombing stopped right then.
If what Israel is doing is creating terrorists, then those terrorists will have to be eliminated as well, and all terrorists the world over need to be eliminated IMO. This war will have to continue no matter what until every terrorist meets his fate, because otherwise there will be no end to the attacks on Israel like Oct 7, or rockets or incendiary kites or infiltration of murderers. What would America do? Would America tolerate what Israel has had to tolerate since it's declaration as a State?
So, they're threatening war over refugees on their borders?
No, that is not what I said. Both countries have refugees on their border and Jordan has three million Palestinians in Jordan and do not want Israel to force/push anymore into their country the same with Egypt, all the countries have been at peace for decades and have worked together but you have a volatile situation hanging in the air, and they are concerned both with the external situation and their internal situation regarding the Palestinians.
Nobody wants them, and for damn good reasons. All those bleeding hearts marching and demonstrating for them should adopt them.
Those who like them do not have to put up with them
I'm getting sick and tired of the whole fucking world telling Israel what to do. It's about time the whole world told Hamas to stop hiding among civilians, using human shields, hiding its facilities and weapons in or under civilian buildings like hospitals, schools, mosques, UN facilities (now it's obvious it's been with their consent and help) and dress like soldiers and act like men instead of filthy rats, and SURRENDER!!! Surrender, for God's sake, because they are NOT going to win, but they will fight to the last man because then if they're killed they will be declared martyrs and get to deflower their 72 virgins in the Garden of Allah. But blame Israel, blame Israel, seems like a South Park episode. Why doesn't any goody-goody country bring proceedings against Hamas for what they do and what they've done? Oh no, no, no, its those fucking Jews!!!
Calm down Buzz..
LOL., Well, tell you what, Greg. I'd do what you ask if you'd done what I asked.
You tell them Buzz, you are right