U.S. President Joe Biden will meet Middle East ally King Abdullah II of Jordan at the White House on Monday as prospects for a ceasefire in Gaza appear slim, with Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Israeli officials blaming each other for the impasse.
On Sunday, Hamas reiterated its demand for an end to the war in exchange for the release of the hostages, a possibility that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flatly ruled out. Hamas also attacked the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza, which Israel said killed three soldiers.
A Jordanian diplomat told Reuters that Monday’s meeting between Biden and King Abdullah was not a formal bilateral meeting but an informal, private meeting. Meanwhile, the Biden administration and Israeli officials remain at odds over Israel’s planned military invasion of Rafah.
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Biden last met with King Abdullah at the White House in February, and the two long-time allies discussed a range of daunting challenges, including Israel’s looming ground offensive in southern Gaza and the humanitarian catastrophe facing Palestinian civilians. threaten.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II ibn Hussein and U.S. President Joe Biden appear at the North Portico of the White House in Washington, DC, February 12, 2024 Jordan’s King returns for a meeting with Biden on May 6, 2024 Informal, personal meeting as Israel’s march on Rafah appears likely. (Anna Chanmemaker/Getty Images)
Jordan and other Arab states have been highly critical of Israel’s actions and have called for a ceasefire since mid-October as civilian casualties began to surge. The war broke out after Hamas launched a cross-border attack on Oct. 7 that shocked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 252 hostages, according to Israeli statistics.
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The White House said Biden last spoke to Netanyahu on April 28 and “reaffirmed his clear position” on a possible invasion of the Gaza border city of Rafah. The US president has been outspoken in asking Israel not to launch a ground attack on Rafah without a plan to protect Palestinian civilians.
As pro-Palestinian protests erupt on U.S. college campuses, Biden faces growing political pressure to convince Israel to delay its invasion. Biden last week addressed campus unrest over the Gaza war but said campus protests had not forced him to reconsider his Middle East policy.
