Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israel Defense Forces will launch an offensive into Rafah, the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city, defying President Joe Biden’s warning that such an invasion would cross a "red line."
"We’ll go there. We're not going to leave them," Netanyahu said during a Sunday interview when asked about the IDF’s plans for Rafah. "You know, I have a red line. You know what the red line is? That October 7 doesn’t happen again. Never happens again." The remark came after Biden said the IDF moving into Rafah, which is now home to nearly half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, would cross a "red line" and that he could not accept "30,000 more Palestinians dead."
Netanyahu also ruled out a ceasefire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, noting that "without a [hostage] release, there's not going to be a pause in the fighting." The Israeli leader, however, said he believes the war will soon be over. "We've destroyed three-quarters of Hamas's fighting terrorism battalions. And we're close to finishing the last part in warfare," Netanyahu said, adding that fighting will last "maybe six weeks, maybe four" and not "take more than two months."
"The positions that I espouse are supported by the overwhelming majority of Israelis who say to you after October 7: 'We don't want to see a Palestinian state,'" Netanyahu said, as a response to Biden’s criticism that Netanyahu is "hurting Israel more than helping Israel." Those who advocate for a two-state solution, according to Netanyahu, "don't understand that the reason we don’t have peace is not because the Palestinians don't have a state, [but] because the Jews have a state."
Netanyahu’s comments came amid rising tensions with Biden, who has reportedly described the Israeli leader in unflattering terms behind closed doors. "In at least three recent instances, Biden has called Netanyahu an ‘asshole,’" NBC News reported, citing sources familiar with his private conversations. Biden also reportedly complained that Netanyahu had been "giving me hell" and "killing me lately," calling the Israeli prime minister "a pain in my ass."