Biden warns Rafah assault a ‘red line’, but says won’t abandon Israel

US President Joe Biden said that he has a “red line” when it came to a planned Israeli offensive in southern Gaza’s Rafah city. But he immediately backtracked from the remark and said, “it is a red line but I’m never going to leave Israel”.

He made the contradictory remarks during an interview with MSNBC News on Saturday. This was the first time that he used the term “red line” for the ongoing war in Gaza which erupted after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

Israel plans to storm Rafah, where more than 1 million of the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza have sought shelter.

While the UN has warned that the planned offensive “could lead to a slaughter”, President Biden and his aides have urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to put the assault on hold until there was a plan to evacuate every citizen from Rafah.

Rafah is the last area of Gaza that Israeli ground forces are yet to capture.

During the MSNBC News interview, President Biden said Israel “cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead as a consequence of going after” the Palestinian militants, adding that “there are other ways to deal with the trauma caused by Hamas”.

When asked if the planned Israeli offensive in Rafah would be a “red line” for him, Biden said, “It is a red line but I’m never going to leave Israel. The defence of Israel is still critical.”

“So there’s no red line (in which) I’m going to cut off all weapons, so they don’t have the Iron Dome to protect them,” he added.

The President also emphasised that Netanyahu “must, must, must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken”.

“He hurts Israel more than he helps Israel (by killing civilians). This is a mistake.”

Biden also reiterated that he was working on a six-week ceasefire in Gaza, during which more humanitarian aid could enter Gaza and hostages were also likely to be released.

He expressed hope that a ceasefire could be reached before Ramzan, which begins on March 11.

Since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October last year, at least 30,878 people have been killed in Gaza, while 72,402 others were injured.

In Israel, the death toll stood at over 1,200, including foreign nationals.

Israeli authorities also estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza.