Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with President Joe Biden on Tuesday in his first visit to the United States since Israel’s conflict with Hamas began, Israeli media reported.
The visit comes after Biden announced his withdrawal from the presidential race.
Before leaving for the US, Netanyahu told reporters that no matter who US voters choose as their next president, his country will remain “America’s indispensable and strong ally in the Middle East.”
Netanyahu said he would thank Biden for all he has done for Israel during his career and discuss with him issues such as securing the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza.
The meeting with Biden is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, if the 81-year-old president recovers from his COVID-19 disease. Israeli PM is also scheduled to address Congress on Wednesday.
Netanyahu seeks meeting with Trump
Netanyahu has also requested a meeting with Donald Trump, Politico reported, citing two people familiar with the request. The two discussed the possibility of a face-to-face meeting in Florida. Trump didn’t agree to the meeting, but he didn’t turn it down either.
On October 7, Trump lashed out at Netanyahu over the country’s intelligence failure. In 2020, Trump did not take to heart Netanyahu’s congratulatory statement on Biden’s election victory, which he has always claimed was rigged.
Devastating offensive continues
Israel sent tanks into the Khan Younis neighbourhood after ordering the evacuation of some areas it believed were being used for new militant attacks. At least 70 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, Gaza medics said Monday.
They said Palestinians were killed by tank salvos in the town of Bani Suhaila and other towns adjacent to eastern Khan Younis, while the area was also bombed from the air.
Residents of the densely built-up area in southern Gaza said tanks advanced more than two kilometres (1.2 miles) in Bani Suhaila, forcing residents to flee under fire. One resident, who identified himself as Abu Khaled, told Reuters in a chat room:
“It’s like doomsday. People are running under fire, there are many dead and wounded on the roads.”
Gaza’s health ministry said several women and children were among the dead, while at least 200 others were wounded. The Gaza ministry did not distinguish between militants and civilians in its death toll.
About 400,000 people live in the attacked areas and dozens of families have begun fleeing their homes, Palestinian officials said, adding that they were not given time to get out of harm’s way before the Israeli strikes began.
Some families fled on donkey-drawn carts, while others fled on foot, carrying mattresses and other belongings.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said two of its clinics, located in eastern Khan Younis, were knocked out of action by the new offensive.
In neighbouring Deir al-Balah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians take refuge, an Israeli airstrike hit a tent used by local journalists at Al-Aqsa hospital, killing one and wounding two others, the Hamas-run Gaza government press office said.
Evacuation order
Earlier on Monday, the Israeli military said it had issued new evacuation orders because of renewed attacks by Palestinian militants, including rockets fired from targeted areas in eastern Khan Younis. Palestinians said the order did not apply to medical facilities.
The military said it was adjusting the boundaries of the humanitarian zone in coastal al-Mawasi – west of Khan Younis – to keep civilians away from areas of fighting with Hamas-led Palestinian militants.
Gaza’s Civil Emergency Service said the new Israeli orders showed the humanitarian zone in the south-central area, which shelters 1.7 million people, had been reduced to 48 square kilometres (18.5 square miles) from 65 square kilometres (25 square miles) in the past.
Israel has vowed to root out Hamas after the militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages in a cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli calculations.
As of Monday, the Palestinian death toll from Israel’s retaliatory offensive had reached 39,006, Gaza health officials said.
