At least 13 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah in the besieged Palestinian Gaza Strip. The Israeli army launched the attack on Thursday (February 8) after the Israeli Prime Minister promised to increase the attack on Gaza. US President Joe Biden described Israel’s military response to Gaza as ‘reckless’. The American press reported this news.
On Wednesday, Netanyahu rejected the terms offered by Hamas for an extended ceasefire in Gaza. He commented that they are confusing. Instead of a treaty, he promised to continue the war until ‘total victory’. After this, the Rafah attack happened.
President Joe Biden called Israel’s military response to Gaza ‘reckless’. Speaking to reporters Thursday evening, he added that he was working “tirelessly” to pressure Israel and Hamas to agree to an extended truce in the ongoing war.
Biden is under political pressure to garner the necessary support for the US presidential election. He has already come under fire for supporting Israel’s invasion of Gaza. So Biden is now very conscious of increasing his acceptance among others in the country, such as the Arab-American community.
Rafah is a town on the mostly sealed border with Egypt. More than half of the residents of the Gaza Strip have fled there. It is also the main gateway for humanitarian aid to reach Gaza. Egypt has warned that any ground operations there or mass displacement across the border would undermine the country’s 40-year-old peace treaty with Israel.
At least 1,200 Israelis were killed in an attack by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7. Almost all of them are civilians. Approximately 250 people were then taken hostage to Gaza by armed fighters. In response to this attack, the Israeli army launched a counterattack against Hamas in Gaza.
According to local health officials in Gaza, more than 27,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the territory so far. Two-thirds of them are women and children.
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