Biden says Israel must have plan to avoid civilian casualties in Rafah

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US President Joe Biden has warned Israel that it needs a “credible” plan to protect civilians before moving ahead with a new military operation in southern Gaza near the border with Egypt.

Biden issued the warning during a call on Sunday with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, in the latest sign of unease in Washington with the conduct of the war against Hamas.

According to the White House, Biden called for “urgent and specific steps” to increase the flow and “consistency” of humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians. He also said a military operation in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, “should not proceed without a credible and executable plan for the safety of and support for the more than one million people sheltering there”.

Last week Biden described Israel’s military operations in Gaza as “over the top”, and US officials signalled that Washington did not want Israel to move into Rafah at this stage. But Biden has not been willing to threaten any tough consequences for Israel if it does not heed US warnings.

In a sign of growing strains in the relationship, Netanyahu’s office declined to provide details about the conversation between the two leaders, as is customary.

In two television interviews with the US media on Sunday, Netanyahu insisted — as he has done repeatedly over the past week — that an operation in Rafah was essential to destroying the last of Hamas’ fighting force and achieving Israel’s war aims.

Israeli officials have made clear that victory over Hamas requires the dismantling of the remaining four of the militant group’s battalions in Rafah and severing its control over the border crossing with Egypt that is the besieged strip’s commercial and humanitarian lifeline.

“Those who say that under no circumstances should we enter Rafah are basically saying lose the…