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Israel occupation of Gaza would be ‘big mistake’ says Biden, amid hopes Rafah crossing will open Israel denies report of ceasefire in southern Gaza
(about 3 hours later)
US secretary of state Antony Blinken says Egypt-Gaza crossing will reopen after meeting with Egypt’s president but does not confirm a time Hamas official also reportedly denies temporary ceasefire is in place – and says border crossing to Egypt remains closed
Any move by Israel to occupy Gaza would be a “big mistake,” US president Joe Biden has said, amid hopes that the enclave’s border with Egypt would open to allow aid in, as Israeli troops continued to prepare for a ground invasion. The Israeli government has denied having agreed a ceasefire in southern Gaza to allow humanitarian aid in and for some people to leave.
In an interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday, Biden said he believes the Hamas militant group must be eliminated but there should be a path to a Palestinian state. The office of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, issued a one-line statement on Monday morning, saying: “There is no ceasefire.” A Hamas official, Izzat El Reshiq, also told the Reuters news agency the border crossing at Rafah between Egypt and Gaza remained closed and denied a temporary ceasefire was in place.
Israel unleashed a bombing campaign on Gaza after Hamas killed more than 1,300 Israelis – mostly civilians – and took 155 hostages in an unprecedented attack. Israel’s reprisal attacks in the days since have flattened neighbourhoods and killed at least 2,670 people in Gaza, the majority ordinary Palestinians. Egyptian security services had earlier assured aid agencies and journalists that agreement had been reached for the Rafah crossing to be opened at 9am on Monday. A long line of lorries carrying humanitarian supplies has gathered over the past few days waiting to enter the besieged and bombarded enclave. According to an aid official, a few UN lorries were allowed into Gaza from Egypt on Monday morning, but the crossing remained closed to most humanitarian deliveries.
Asked if he would support any occupation of Gaza, Biden replied: “I think it’d be a big mistake.” Hamas “don’t represent all the Palestinian people,” he continued. The impasse has come as Gaza is running out of food, water and medical supplies, in the face of a total Israel blockade and bombing campaign in reprisal for a Hamas attack last week which killed more than 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians.
The US has been trying to broker a deal to reopen Egypt’s Rafah crossing with Gaza to allow Americans and other foreigners to leave and humanitarian aid amassed on the Egyptian side of the border to be brought in. On Sunday, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said the crossing would reopen. The UN relief agency, Unrwa, has said a million people had been displaced in the nine days since the Hamas incursion and the Palestinian health ministry said 2,329 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza.
“Egypt has put in place a lot of material support for people in Gaza, and Rafah will be reopened,” Blinken told reporters in Cairo after what he said was a “very good conversation” with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The US told its citizens in Gaza on Saturday they should move closer to the crossing in case it opened. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, arrived back in Israel after a tour of the Gulf Arab states and Egypt as part of a diplomatic effort that has so far failed to achieve its aims of establishing safe havens for civilians within Gaza and to open corridors for humanitarian supplies.
Two Egyptian sources told Reuters on Monday that that Egypt, Israel and the US had agreed to a ceasefire in southern Gaza coinciding with the re-opening of the crossing, to allow in aid and evacuations of foreigners, but the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to deny an agreement. “What I’ve heard from virtually every partner was a determination, a shared view, that we have to do everything possible to make sure this doesn’t spread to other places; a shared view to safeguard innocent lives; a shared view to get assistance to Palestinians in Gaza who need it, and we’re working very much on that,” Blinken said of his visits to Arab capitals.
“There is currently no truce and humanitarian aid in Gaza in exchange for getting foreigners out,” a statement from his office said. As Israel massed troops and armour around Gaza’s borders in preparation for a ground invasion, Joe Biden has warned it would be a “big mistake” for Israel to try to reoccupy the enclave once more with ground troops, 18 years after its withdrawing its forces.
Israel has faced grave warnings about the implications of putting boots on the ground in Gaza, with aid groups warning of a humanitarian disaster, fears of the conflict escalating, and the challenges of separating militants from civilians in the impoverished, densely occupied territory. “What happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas don’t represent all the Palestinian people,” Biden said in an interview with the CBS news programme, 60 minutes.
He said he believed Hamas should be eliminated entirely, “but there needs to be a Palestinian Authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state.”
The US told its citizens in Gaza on Saturday they should move closer to the crossing in case it opened, but there was no sign by midday local time on Monday that any Palestinian Americans had been able to cross. In the early afternoon, those who had been waiting near the Rafah gate hoping to cross were told to go back into Gaza, according to an aid agency source.
Michael Capponi, the head of an aid agency, Global Empowerment Mission, which has stockpiled relief supplies on the Egyptian side of the border said on Monday morning that the authorities in Cairo had said the crossing would be opened “most likely in days to come”.
“The US wants to ensure proper checking of trucks occur so weapons are not filtered to Hamas, Capponi said. “I think that’s main issue.
“The events unfolding in the region have the potential to become one of the biggest humanitarian crisis in recent history, he added. “It is our duty and obligation to help all human beings who are caught in the crossroads of this war. Our first trucks of aid are arriving to the Rafah gate queue today. We are coordinating deliveries with UN agencies inside Gaza.”
Reserves of fuel at all hospitals across Gaza are expected to last only about 24 more hours, the United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) said early on Monday.Reserves of fuel at all hospitals across Gaza are expected to last only about 24 more hours, the United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) said early on Monday.
“The shutdown of backup generators would place the lives of thousands of patients at risk,” OCHA said.“The shutdown of backup generators would place the lives of thousands of patients at risk,” OCHA said.
Medics in Gaza have warned that thousands could die as hospitals packed with wounded people ran desperately low on fuel and basic supplies. Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave struggled to find food, water and safety ahead of the expected Israeli ground offensive.Medics in Gaza have warned that thousands could die as hospitals packed with wounded people ran desperately low on fuel and basic supplies. Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave struggled to find food, water and safety ahead of the expected Israeli ground offensive.
Gaza’s sole power plant shut down for lack of fuel after Israel completely sealed off the 40km long territory after the Hamas attack. Gaza’s sole power plant shut down for lack of fuel after Israel completely sealed off the 25-mile-long (40km) territory after the Hamas attack.
Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the head of pediatrics at the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, told the Associated Press that the facility has not evacuated despite Israel’s order on Friday for more than 1 million Palestinians – almost half the territory’s population – to move south. There were seven newborns in the ICU hooked up to ventilators, he said, adding that evacuating “would mean death for them and other patients under our care.” Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the head of paediatrics at the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, told the Associated Press that the facility had not evacuated despite Israel’s order on Friday for more than 1 million Palestinians – almost half the territory’s population – to move south. There were seven newborns in the ICU hooked up to ventilators, he said, adding that evacuating “would mean death for them and other patients under our care”.
Ahmed Al-Mandhari, the regional director of the World Health Organization, said hospitals were able to move some mobile patients out of the north, but most patients can’t be evacuated. Ahmed al-Mandhari, the regional director of the World Health Organization, said hospitals were able to move some mobile patients out of the north, but most patients can’t be evacuated.
Blinken said leaders in Arab states he visited across the region in recent days were determined to stop the war from spreading. Fighting along Israel’s border with Lebanon, which has flared in the last week, intensified on Sunday with Hezbollah militants firing rockets and an anti-tank missile, and Israel responding with airstrikes and shelling. The Israeli military also reported shooting at one of its border posts. The fighting killed at least one person on the Israeli side and wounded several on both sides of the border.
“They are using their own influence, their own relationships, to try to make sure that this doesn’t happen,” said Blinken, who was due back in Israel on Monday and is also seeking to secure the release of the hostages, including Americans, that were taken by Hamas back into Gaza.
However the recent outburst of violence has sent regional tensions soaring.
“There is a risk of an escalation of this conflict, the opening of a second front in the north and, of course, Iran’s involvement,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CBS earlier in the day.
Biden said his message to Iran is to not escalate the conflict.
Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, said on Sunday that his country had conveyed a message to Israeli officials that “if they do not cease their atrocities in Gaza, Iran cannot simply remain an observer.”
“If the scope of the war expands, significant damages will also be inflicted upon America,” he warned.
Fighting along Israel’s border with Lebanon, which has flared in the last week, intensified Sunday with Hezbollah militants firing rockets and an anti-tank missile, and Israel responding with airstrikes and shelling. The Israeli military also reported shooting at one of its border posts. The fighting killed at least one person on the Israeli side and wounded several on both sides of the border.
Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this reportReuters and Associated Press contributed to this report