Netanyahu, Biden Divided - Israel Sending Team to DC to Discuss Impasse

JERUSALEM, Israel – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Joe Biden spoke on the phone for the first time since Senator Chuck Schumer called for the Israeli people to replace Netanyahu in new elections.

The phone call is the latest development in an unprecedented confrontation between the U.S. and Israel.

Israel's prime minister says he and U.S. President Joe Biden had a long phone call about the Jewish nation's main goals in Gaza, which included, "The elimination of Hamas, the release of all our hostages, and the promise that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel."

He also announced he's agreed to send a team to Washington to discuss major disagreements, such as the Biden administration's feeling that Israel shouldn't invade Rafah, Hamas' last major stronghold.

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated, "Our position is that Hamas should not be allowed a safe haven in Rafah or anywhere else. But a major ground operation there would be a mistake. It would lead to more innocent civilian deaths, worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen the anarchy in Gaza, and further isolate Israel internationally."

Netanyahu insists that without striking Hamas in its last stronghold, it will continue to be a major threat against Israel. "How do we define victory?" he asked. "We define it as the destruction of Hamas' military and governing capability."

Still, the Biden administration asserts it's on board with Israel's goals, even if it appears that opposing an attack on Rafah undermines those goals.

"The president emphasized his bone-deep commitment to ensuring the long-term security of Israel; and he affirmed, as he did in the State of the Union, that Israel has a right to go after Hamas, the perpetrators of the worst massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust," Sullivan declared.

The United Nations World Food Programme insists if the fighting doesn't halt in Gaza, nearly half of the two million people living there could starve to death. "There are about 1.1 million people in catastrophic level of hunger," said Arif Hasan of the UNWFP.   

The food agency asserts that if it can't get 300 trucks full of aid into Gaza daily, the famine could spread all across the Gaza Strip.

Israel says it's not stopping the aid trucks; instead, they claim, the U.N. fails to distribute much of the food, and trucks are often hijacked or looted by Hamas and criminal gangs.

The Israel Defense Forces chief spokesman claimed Israeli troops killed some 20 terrorists and arrested 200 more in a major Gaza City hospital when Hamas tried to retake the building.

Avi Hyman, an Israeli government spokesman, added another charge: "Every single hospital that we've searched has been used by Hamas as a weapon of war."

The army also killed one top Hamas commander who was armed and hiding in the Shifa Hospital. "He coordinated Hamas terrorist activities in the Gaza Strip. He is no more," Hyman said.

Meanwhile, dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked a major Jerusalem road Monday, protesting against a bill that could take away their exemption from Israel's compulsory draft. Police dragged protesters off the street, sometimes violently, only to have other protesters rush to take their place blocking the road.

While almost every other young Israeli must serve in the military, the ultra-Orthodox have been exempt so they can instead study full-time in religious seminaries. 

The White House also announced Tuesday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Saudi Arabia and Egypt in coming days, to broker a hostage deal and a ceasefire.

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