US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone this Saturday, as the Israeli army claimed to have expanded its ground operation against Hamas in the south and north of the Gaza Strip. In the enclave, at least 18 people were killed this Saturday in new Israeli attacks in central Gaza, according to hospital officials.
Israeli troops have expanded their ground operation in the south and north of the Gaza Strip and engaged in fierce fighting over the weekend, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said at a news conference this week. Hagari stated that ground forces have destroyed and seized Hamas weapons and underground infrastructure. The affairs director of the main United Nations agency in Gaza criticized the IDF’s call for new evacuations in the enclave, stating that tens of thousands of residents in central and southern Gaza — many of whom have already been displaced — have “nowhere to go.”
Biden and Netanyahu discussed “goals and phases” of the war between Israel and Hamas during their call, according to the White House. Biden told reporters on Saturday that she had a long conversation with Netanyahu, and that he had not pushed for a ceasefire. Netanyahu said he expressed gratitude for the US position on the United Nations Security Council.
The Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli security agency, Shin Bet, claim to have killed Hamas official Hassan Atrash on Friday in southern Gaza. Atrash was in charge of arms trading, manufacturing and supply for Hamas, according to a post on the IDF’s X, formerly Twitter.
Following a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for humanitarian pauses between Israel and Hamas and an increase in aid to Gaza, the Palestinian Red Crescent said 93 aid trucks entered the besieged enclave on Saturday. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said Friday that measuring the success of the Gaza aid operation by the number of trucks entering the enclave is a mistake due to the “enormous obstacles” presented by the U.N. ground offensive. Israel to distribute aid once it reaches Gaza.
The Security Council’s call for a pause will be “almost insignificant” for the lives of Gazan civilians, Doctors Without Borders said in a statement criticizing the compromise resolution. Meanwhile, a senior adviser to the Israeli prime minister criticized Guterres for calling for a ceasefire, saying in an interview with CNN on Saturday that Guterres was “offering a lifeline to Hamas.”