Tuesday, April 9, 2024
Year : 2, Issue : 15
US President Joe Biden must implement a “concrete plan” to prevent Israel’s vowed invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a doctor who sat down with him this week for a closed-door discussion at the White House told Anadolu.
“The language is still somewhat loose. There’s not any concrete plan in place to say that if there was an invasion of Rafah, this is what would happen. This is how the US policy would change,” said Nahreen Ahmed, a critical care physician, as she prepares to return to Gaza for a third time.
The public appeal comes after Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a Thursday telephone call that future US support for Israel’s war on Gaza depends on Tel Aviv’s implementation of major reforms following the “unacceptable” killing of seven humanitarian aid workers Monday in Gaza and the “unacceptable” humanitarian conditions in the coastal enclave.
The White House said Biden “made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering and the safety of aid workers.”
“He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps,” it said.
But Ahmed pointed to an arms package for Israel, which included more than 1,000 small diameter bombs, over 1,000 MK-82 500-pound bombs, as well as additional bomb fuses, that was finalized on the same day as Israel’s repeated airstrikes on the World Central Kitchen aid workers. She questioned why the Biden administration did not immediately pump the brakes in the aftermath of the news.
“I would ask the question, why not halt sending those arms and ammunitions to Israel in the context of what’s happening? I think that’s the kind of concrete thing we want to see the US government talk about, in how to prevent, you know, ongoing suffering, death and the catastrophic situation in Gaza,” said Nahreen Ahmed, who is the medical director for MedGlobal, a non-profit that provides medical services in war zones.
Biden told the Israeli premier this week that an immediate cease-fire in Gaza is essential to protect civilians and aid workers, and asked Netanyahu “to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay” after six months of war.
An Israeli delegation is slated to fly to Washington next week to discuss US proposals for alternative approaches in Rafah, but it is unclear if Biden’s direct urging for an “immediate” halt to the hostilities will affect Netanyahu’s calculus.
Source: Anadolu Agency
