U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone Sunday about the nearly seven-month war between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza, but the White House gave no immediate signal that a cease-fire is in the offing.
A White House statement said the two leaders “reviewed ongoing talks to secure the release of hostages together with an immediate cease-fire in Gaza."
Negotiations have been underway for months on ways to halt the fighting, but Israel and Hamas remain stalemated in talks brokered by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar.
In the call with Netanyahu, the White House said Biden noted his agreement with 17 other world leaders demanding that Hamas immediately release the 100 or so hostages it is holding and agree to a cease-fire. The U.S. has been pushing for a six-week halt in the fighting.
Hamas has demanded that Israel end the war and leave Gaza, but Netanyahu has resisted and held out the threat of a ground invasion on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering in hopes of staying safe from the Israeli aerial bombardment.
The White House said Biden again made it clear to Netanyahu that the U.S. opposes an Israeli ground attack on Rafah because of the danger to the Palestinians living there.
The two leaders also discussed increases in the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza, including through new northern openings starting this week.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told ABC’s “This Week” show that a temporary pier for humanitarian relief trucks the U.S. is building on the Gaza coast of the Mediterranean Sea could open in two or three weeks.
The Biden-Netanyahu call came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed to the Mideast for talks with regional officials in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel from Monday through Wednesday.
The State Department said Blinken would emphasize the U.S. view that it is Hamas that it is the obstacle to a cease-fire. It said the top U.S. diplomat “will also emphasize the importance of preventing the conflict from spreading and discuss ongoing efforts to achieve lasting peace and security in the region, including through a pathway to an independent Palestinian state with security guarantees for Israel.”
In Saudi Arabia, Blinken is participating in a ministerial meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council to advance coordination on regional security, the State Department said. He is also attending a World Economic Forum special meeting on global collaboration, growth, and energy for development.
Hamas killed 1,200 people in the initial attack in Israel last October and captured about 250 hostages, with about 100 of them released during a week-long cease-fire in late November.
Israel’s subsequent retaliatory counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 34,000, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, with Israel saying the death toll includes several thousand Hamas militants it has killed.
Hamas is believed to still be holding about 100 hostages, along with the remains of 30 or more hostages who have either been killed or otherwise died in the ensuing months.
Also Sunday, the U.S. Central Command and the Royal Jordanian Air Force “conducted a combined humanitarian assistance airdrop into Northern Gaza to provide essential relief to civilians in Gaza affected by the ongoing conflict,” a CENTCOM statement said.
“The joint operation included Jordanian provided food and four U.S. Air Force C-130 aircraft. The U.S. C-130's dropped over 25,000 Meals Ready to Eat (MREs),” CENTCOM said. “To date the U.S. has dropped nearly 1,110 tons of humanitarian assistance.”
Israel also carried out further airstrikes and shelling in Gaza on Sunday, while a video of two hostages being held by Hamas militants since the October attack prompted new outrage in Israel, where protesters have piled pressure on the government to reach a deal.
Global opposition to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has also been growing, with world leaders and aid groups warning that a looming Israeli invasion of Rafah would lead to massive civilian casualties.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas appealed to the United States to stop Israel from invading Rafah, which he said would be "the biggest disaster in the history of the Palestinian people.”
The U.S. — Israel's main ally and weapons supplier was the only nation capable of preventing Israel from "committing this crime," Abbas told the global economic summit in Saudi Arabia.
