Rescue workers survey the scene following Israeli bombardments over Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 12, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group.
Dozens of people were killed early Monday after Israel launched a series of strikes on Rafah, according to Gaza health officials. Israel also announced it rescued two hostages during a special raid into the southern Gaza city, where 1.4 million Palestinians have sought refuge during the four-month Israel-Hamas war.·Rescue workers survey the scene following Israeli bombardment in Rafah, southern Gaza, on Monday.
Shortly after the bombardment, the Israeli military announced it had freed two hostages — identified as Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70 — during a raid by special forces in Rafah, also on early on Monday. It said both men were kidnapped by Hamas militants from Kibbutz Nir Yizhak in the Oct. 7 attack that started the Israel-Hamas war. They are just the second and third hostages to be rescued safely.
Discussion of the potential for a ceasefire agreement took up much of the call, a senior U.S. administration official said. After weeks of diplomacy, a "framework" is now "pretty much" in place for a deal that could see the release of remaining hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a halt to fighting.
Biden and Netanyahu spoke after two Egyptian officials and a Western diplomat said Egypt would suspend its peace treaty with Israel if troops are sent into Rafah. Egypt fears that move could push Palestinians into the Sinai Peninsula and force the closure of Gaza's main aid supply route. The White House, which has rushed arms to Israel and shielded it from international calls for a ceasefire, has warned that a Rafah ground operation would be a "disaster" for civilians.
The United Nations says Rafah, normally home to fewer than 300,000 people, now hosts 1.4 million more and is "severely overcrowded."
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