Biden reiterates 'clear position on Rafah' during call with Netanyahu as evacuations begin

WASHINGTON

US President Joe Biden "reiterated his clear position on Rafah" during a call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday as hundreds of Palestinian civilians flee the southern Gaza city under yet more Israeli evacuation orders.

During their conversation, Biden "updated the Prime Minister on efforts to secure a hostage deal, including through ongoing talks today in Doha, Qatar," the White House said in a statement.

"The Prime Minister agreed to ensure the Kerem Shalom crossing is open for humanitarian assistance for those in need," it added.

Israel closed the border crossing after a Hamas short-range rocket attack killed three soldiers nearby.

The president did not respond to shouted questions about his call with Netanyahu as he returned to the White House Monday.

He has opposed an invasion of Rafah that does not account for the city's civilian population.

Earlier Monday, the Israeli military issued immediate evacuation orders for Palestinians in the eastern neighborhoods of Rafah and called on them to move to the town of al-Mawasi on the southern Gaza coast.

Around 100,000 Palestinian civilians are estimated to be living in the areas to be evacuated, according to Israeli Army Radio.

Rafah is home to more than 1.5 million displaced Palestinians who have taken refuge from the war launched by Israel following Hamas's Oct. 7 attack that killed nearly 1,200 people.

Over 200,000 Palestinians lived in Rafah before Israel's invasion of Gaza.

A National Security Council spokesperson told Anadolu that the Biden administration continues "to believe that a hostage deal is the best way to preserve the lives of the hostages, and avoid an invasion of Rafah, where more than a million people are sheltering."

"Those talks are ongoing now," the spokesperson added.

Nearly seven months into the war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Over 34,600 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in Gaza amid sweeping shortages of daily necessities, including food, water and medicine that have caused prompted by Israeli restrictions on aid deliveries.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice.

An interim ruling from the UN’s top court in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians there.