On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the government had approved operational plans for a ground military operation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, adding that the military was preparing to evacuate civilians from the city.
Senior Israeli officials said that the virtual meeting gives Netanyahu a chance to "save face" and hold discussions with the White House without sending a delegation to Washington, the report added.
At the same time, an Israeli official told the news portal that a second, face-to-face meeting could take place as early as next week.
Last week, Netanyahu canceled a visit of his high-level delegation to Washington after the United States did not veto a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that did not include a call for the release of the hostages kept by Palestinian movement Hamas. On Wednesday, however, the White House announced that the prime minister had agreed to reschedule the Rafah operation talks.
On October 7, 2023, Palestinian movement Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel and breached the border, attacking both civilian neighborhoods and military bases. Nearly 1,200 people in Israel were killed and some 240 others abducted during the attack. Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza, and started a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. Over 32,700 people have been killed so far in the Gaza Strip, according to local authorities.