Israel-Hamas War: According to Netanyahu, he made it apparent to Biden that Rafah Ground Operation was necessary to destroy Hamas

Tel Aviv: Amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Wednesday that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) will proceed with the ground operation in Rafah in spite of pressure from around the world. He also mentioned that he has discussed this with US President Joe Biden, according to the Times of Israel.

Relating to the need to enter Rafah, we disagree with the Americans, Netanyahu said at the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee on Tuesday.

Not about the need to get into Rafah, but about getting rid of Hamas. We do not believe that it is possible to militarily destroy Hamas without also killing its residual battalions. We have no intention of failing,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu has said unequivocally that a land campaign is the only means of destroying or eliminating Hamas.

Netanyahu said, “There is no way to do it except by going in on the ground. I made it clear to the president in our conversation that we are determined to complete the elimination of these battalions in Rafah.”

In a phone conversation with Netanyahu on Monday, Biden essentially ruled out backing any possible large-scale Israeli ground attack in Rafah, which borders Egypt at the southernmost point of Gaza, according to the Times of Israel.

A large-scale ground operation would be erroneous. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that it will “further isolate Israel internationally, worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen the anarchy in Gaza, and result in more innocent civilian deaths.”

Speaking to Israeli lawmakers, Netanyahu said that the two leaders had decided on a way for the Americans to hear American perspectives on humanitarian relief and civilian evacuation—concerns that Israel also holds dear.

He said, “We have to eradicate Hamas militarily.” The Iranian axis, which poses a greater threat to Israel, will undoubtedly win, and there is no way around it. “There is no substitute for that,” Netanyahu continued. “You can’t say, ‘We’ll destroy 80 percent of Hamas; we’ll leave 20 percent,” because that 20 percent will regroup and retake the Strip.

In the meantime, Netanyahu had forewarned against the operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians have sought safety, according to the White House transcript of Biden and Netanyahu’s conversation.

According to the White House, Biden and Netanyahu decided to arrange for their teams to meet in Washington shortly to explore “alternative approaches” that would secure the Egypt-Gaza border and take out important Hamas components without requiring a significant ground operation in Rafah.

Sen. Biden encouraged Netanyahu to send a high-level delegation of military, intelligence, and humanitarian officials to Washington to explore a different strategy that would control the border between Egypt and Gaza without requiring a large-scale ground invasion and target Hamas in Rafah.