Biden repeats Israel to make efforts for Gazan civilians' protection
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Washington: The more than one million civilians sheltered in Rafah are crowded, exposed and vulnerable, US President Joe Biden said, adding that Israel must make voluntary efforts to protect them, BBC reported.
Rafah, the southern city in Gaza, has been under rampant airstrikes in recent days, and casualties have been reported.
It was on Monday, Biden repeated his request for the protection of civilians in Rafah. This was after his meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah in the US capital.
Biden said that any major military operation in the city must be made with a plan for ensuring the civilians' safety. He said that many of those in Rafah were displaced, and many were displaced multiple times. Those who fled the violence in the north have taken shelter in the south, he said.
Biden said that the civilians needed to be protected. He added that the US was very clear even from the start that it opposes any forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.
White House had expressed last week that it would not back any major Israeli operations in Rafah, which ignores the refugees there.
BBC reports that more than half of the Gaza population is now under shelter in Rafah, which only had 2,50,000 people before the Hamas October 7 attack, which triggered the war. Many of the refugees there are living in crude makeshift shelters or tents. They have very scarce access to safe drinking water or food.
Since the start of the war, at least 28,473 Palestinians have been killed and more than 68,000 wounded in Gaza. This is according to the Hamas-run health ministry.