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Tel Aviv [Israel], December 25: US President Joe Biden had a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the context of Tel Aviv's increased attacks on targets in the southern Gaza Strip.
Attacks across the Gaza Strip
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on December 24 that they were stepping up efforts to attack Hamas targets throughout southern Gaza, focusing on the city of Khan Younis. This city is the birthplace and base of Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza , who Israel believes is mainly responsible for the attack in Israel on October 7, according to AFP.
Reuters quoted Jonathan Conricus, spokesman for the IDF, as saying that Israel is about to gain complete operational control in northern Gaza and is preparing to expand the ground campaign to other areas of the territory. This with a focus on the south. However, attacks continued in the north on December 23, including in the city of Jabalia, home to the largest refugee camp for Palestinians.
Early on December 24, Hamas said Jabalia and Khan Younis had suffered new attacks. Although Israel has long called on people to leave areas in northern Gaza, its forces have bombed areas where displaced people have sought, leaving them with almost no safe haven. According to estimates by the United Nations (UN), fighting has so far forced about 80% of Gaza's 2.4 million residents to flee their homes.
Mr. Balakrishnan Rajagopal, UN special rapporteur on the right to housing, said that current events in Gaza stem from "institutionalized impunity", including responsibility for "crimes". war", "genocide" and "crimes against humanity". "If the International Criminal Court does not act soon, we need a special court on Gaza and the actions of states," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
US "does not ask for a ceasefire"
In that context, US President Joe Biden had a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on December 24 (Vietnam time) to discuss the future of the war. The White House said the two leaders discussed the "goals and phases" of Israel's military operation, the need to protect civilian lives and efforts to rescue hostages held by Hamas. , according to Reuters.
The United States, Israel's largest ally, has faced increasing pressure to press the Netanyahu government to end fighting in Gaza. But when meeting reporters after the phone call, Mr. Biden revealed that he did not ask the Israeli prime minister to come to a ceasefire. Meanwhile, Netanyahu's office said the leader "made it clear that Israel will pursue the war until all of its goals are achieved."
Although still supporting Israel, US officials have recently begun to publicly expose conflicts in bilateral relations. In a notable report on December 23, The Wall Street Journal revealed that Mr. Biden called Mr. Netanyahu not long after the conflict broke out to ask Israel not to conduct a preemptive strike against Hezbollah forces in Lebanon. Israeli military aircraft were then ready to wait for a sortie order but in the end did not act as planned.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper