US President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid increased pressure on Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement, the White House reported on Sunday.
Biden reiterated his “clear position”, as Israel planned an offensive into Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah despite global concerns about more than one million Palestinians sheltering there.
Israel agreed to hear the US side before launching the Rafah offensive, White House national security spokesman John Kirby revealed. Israel is among the countries US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to visit on his return to the Middle East on Monday.
US charity organisation World Central Kitchen (WCK) announced on Sunday that it had resumed its aid work in Gaza after nearly a month of suspension in response to the killing of seven of its employees in an Israeli airstrike. WCK stated that despite the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, it was “resuming its operations with the same energy, dignity, and focus on feeding as many people as possible.”
We have so far distributed more than 43 million meals, and we are eager to provide millions more.
Damage to Gaza’s transport and communications systems exceeded $3 billion, Palestinian Minister of Transport and Communications, Tareq Zaarab, reported.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, stated on Sunday that the group “will not accept any agreement that does not include a cessation of war in Gaza.”
A Hamas delegation would visit Cairo on Monday for talks aimed at securing a ceasefire, a Hamas official announced on Sunday, as mediators stepped up efforts to reach an agreement ahead of an expected Israeli offensive on Rafah.
Qatar, Egypt and the US are seeking to facilitate a hostage swap deal and a second ceasefire between Israel and Hamas following the first, which ended last December.
