Netanyahu promises to ignore U.S. President's 'red line' at RafahIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he intends to go ahead with an incursion into the town of Rafah on the southern border of the Gaza Strip in defiance of United States President Joe Biden, who warned that such an offensive would be a "red line."
Aid organizations have warned that an attack on Rafah on the border with Egypt, which is now a safe haven for about half of Gaza's 2.3 million people, would result in massive civilian casualties.
International pressure on Israel is mounting for a ceasefire. Exact casualty figures are disputed, as the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says the civilian death toll exceeds 30,000. United Nations organizations have also warned of an impending famine, with the first deaths from starvation already recorded, prompting the European Union to open a sea corridor to bring aid from Cyprus.
Netanyahu also cited his own estimates of the dead. Some 13,000 Palestinian militants have been killed, he said, while the civilian death rate is estimated at 1-1.5 per combatant. That would bring the total number of dead - militants and civilians - to at least 26,000.
He also rejected the idea of a cease-fire for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Netanyahu also responded directly to criticism from Biden, who said the Israeli leader "hurts Israel more than he helps Israel."
