Israel-Hamas war: Biden and Netanyahu hold first phone call in a month amid warnings of ‘imminent famine’ in Gaza
US President Joe Biden and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu have held their first phone call in a month, amid warnings of an “imminent famine” in northern Gaza.
It comes as a group of aid agencies warned that an estimated 70% of the population in northern Gaza faced catastrophic hunger, and that virtually everyone in the besieged strip is struggling to get enough food.
The European Union’s top diplomat also blamed Israel for the crisis on Monday, saying an impending famine in Gaza was “entirely man-made”.
Meanwhile, amid talk of tension between the US and Israel, White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, confirmed that Mr Netanyahu had held a phone call – their first in 31 days.
He said they had agreed to send a team of Israeli officials to Washington to discuss with members of Mr Biden’s team to hear US concerns about a possible military assault on the southern Gazan city of Rafah.
He said the talks, expected to involve military, intelligence, and humanitarian experts, were set to be held in the coming days.
But he stressed that the US felt a major ground operation in Rafah would be a “mistake” and that Mr Biden had warned Mr Netanyahu against it.
“It would lead to more innocent civilian deaths, worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen the anarchy in Gaza, and further isolate Israel internationally,” Mr Sullivan added.
“Israel has not presented us or the world with a plan for how or where they would safely move those civilians, let alone feed and house them and ensure access to basic things like sanitation.”
President Joe Biden speaks during a Women’s History Month reception at the White House. Pic: AP
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaks during a press briefing at the White House. Pic: Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu delivers his speech after a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Jerusalem on Sunday. Pic: AP
In other developments in the Israel-Hamas war:
• Israeli forces launched another raid on the Gaza Strip’s largest hospital on Monday, saying Hamas militants had regrouped there;
• They also said they had killed a Hamas commander who was armed and hiding inside the medical centre;
• It emerged Israel had urged the top UN court to reject the latest request by South Africa for interim orders to prevent starvation in Gaza;
• A top UN aid official for Palestinian areas called for an opening of “all roads” into Gaza to help avert the potential famine.
On Monday, a new report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification warned of an “imminent famine” in northern Gaza.
The group, a partnership of more than a dozen governments, UN aid and other agencies that determine the severity of food crises, said virtually everyone in Gaza was struggling to get enough food.
It also said that some 210,000 people in the north were in “Phase 5”, its highest category, referred to as “catastrophic hunger”.
A looming Israeli ground attack in Rafah would worsen the crisis, it warned, claiming it would drive around half of the 2.3 million people in Gaza into Phase 5.
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses, shelter in a tent camp in Rafah. Pic: Retuers
On Monday, Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, accused Israel of weaponising food to provoke famine.
“In Gaza we are no longer on the brink of famine, we are in a state of famine, affecting thousands of people,” he said at the opening of a conference on humanitarian aid for Gaza in Brussels.
“Trucks are stopped. People are dying, while the land crossings are artificially closed,” he said.
Aid agencies say they have struggled to get enough aid in because of a burdensome Israeli process to import humanitarian aid, and that the continuing conflict has made distribution in the north of Gaza virtually impossible.
Israel says there are “no limits on the amount of aid that can go into Gaza”.
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Israel using starvation as ‘weapon of war’
The US and other countries have carried out airdrops in recent days and a sea corridor has just opened up.
However, aid groups have said those efforts are costly and inefficient and are no substitute for Israel opening up more land routes.
It comes as Israeli forces launched another raid on the Gaza Strip’s largest hospital on Monday, saying Hamas militants had regrouped there and had fired on them from inside the site where Palestinian officials say tens of thousands of people have been sheltering.
The army last raided al Shifa Hospital in November after claiming that Hamas maintained an elaborate command centre within and beneath the facility.
However, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and Israel Securities Authority (ISA) said military activity had not stopped and they had launched a “precise operation to thwart terrorist activity”.
The IDF said it killed a Hamas commander who was armed and hiding inside the medical centre, and that one of its own soldiers was killed in the operation.
Palestinian authorities described the raid as a “war crime” that had resulted in multiple casualties.
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Screams heard after al Shifa raid
Separately, on Monday, the US said Israel had killed Hamas number three, Marwan Issa, in an operation last week.
A spokesperson for the IDF said they had “no comment on the matter”.
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Later on Monday, it emerged that Israel has urged the top UN court to reject the latest request by South Africa for interim orders to prevent starvation in Gaza as part of a case accusing Israel of breaching the Genocide Convention with its military offensive against Hamas.
In a written response published on Monday by the International Court of Justice, Israel said that claims by South Africa in its request filed earlier this month were “wholly unfounded in fact and law, morally repugnant, and represent an abuse both of the Genocide Convention and of the Court itself”.
Israel fervently denies that its military campaign in Gaza amounts to a breach of the Genocide Convention.
Last-known photo of Marwan Issa, taken in 2015
It acknowledged in its written response to South Africa’s request that there are “also tragic and agonising civilian casualties in this war”.
“These realities are the painful result of intensive armed hostilities that Israel did not start and did not want,” it said.
No date has been set for judges to rule on the South African request.
At hearings in January, lawyers for Israel argued that the war in Gaza was a legitimate defence of its people and that it was Hamas militants who were guilty of genocide.
After the hearings, the court ordered Israel in late January to do all it could to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza, but stopped short of ordering an end to the military offensive triggered by the deadly 7 October incursion into southern Israel by Hamas.
Israel pounded the outskirts of Gaza City overnight, as Benjamin Netanyahu’s government vowed to press on with a planned offensive on the city.
Families streamed out of the city as the explosions hit.
“I stopped counting the times I had to take my wife and three daughters and leave my home in Gaza City,” said Mohammad, 40.
“No place is safe, but I can’t take the risk. If they suddenly begin the invasion, they will use heavy fire.”
Mahmoud Abedrabo mourns over the body of his son Hamada in Gaza City on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
Others said they would prefer to die and not leave.
“We are not leaving, let them bomb us at home,” said Aya, 31, who has a family of eight, adding that they couldn’t afford to buy a tent or pay for the transportation.
“We are hungry, afraid and don’t have money,” she said.
Mourners pray next to the body of Palestinian boy Hamada Abedrabo on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
Witnesses said that overnight they heard nonstop explosions in Zeitoun and Shejaia.
Tanks shelled houses and roads in Sabra, and buildings were blown up in Jabalia.
On Sunday, the IDF said its forces had returned to combat in Jabalia to strengthen its control of the area and dismantle militant tunnels.
Smoke rises following an Israeli strike in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
It added that the operation there “enables the expansion of combat into additional areas and prevents Hamas terrorists from returning to operate in these areas.”
This month, Israel approved a plan to seize control of Gaza City. The offensive isn’t expected to start for another few weeks.
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In the meantime, mediators in Egypt and Qatar are trying to resume ceasefire talks between the two sides.
On Friday, Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said that Gaza City will be razed unless Hamas releases all its remaining hostages and ends the war on Israel’s terms.
Mourners transport the body of Ahmed Balata on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
Around half of Gaza’s two million residents currently live in the city and on Friday a global hunger monitor said that Gaza City and its surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine that will likely spread.
Israel said the monitor ignores steps Israel has taken since late July to increase aid supplies into and across Gaza.
Eight more people died of malnutrition and starvation in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry on Saturday.
281 people, including 114 children, have now died of malnutrition and starvation since the war started, according to the ministry.
The war began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas-led gunmen killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel, mainly civilians, and took 251 hostages.
Since then, Israel has killed at least 62,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, and internally displaced nearly its entire population.
Two married couples have died after a British car veered off the road and crashed in Germany, according to police.
The fatal accident happened shortly after midnight on Saturday in the trees near a highway in the Kassel district, north of Hesse in central Germany.
The 32-year-old male driver, a 31-year-old female passenger, a 32-year-old female passenger, and a 30-year-old female passenger all died at the scene, despite the efforts of German emergency services.
Sky News understands UK officials have not been contacted for assistance.
At roughly 12.30am on Saturday, the car appears to have veered off the road and crashed into nearby trees around 30m from the road, according to the Kassel police department.
Pic: Feuerwehr Reinhardshagen
One of the victim’s phones automatically alerted the emergency services to the incident, who sent an ambulance to the scene.
Soon, fire engines, ambulances, command vehicles and emergency support vehicles were all dispatched.
When emergency workers arrived, the car was lying on its side, wedged between several trees.
It wasn’t until they removed the roof that they found all four passengers.
Pic: Feuerwehr Reinhardshagen
The accident happened on Highway L3229
The emergency workers who dealt with the victims were immediately supported by the specialist mental health workers at the fire station in Reinhardshagen.
“This high number of deaths is an extraordinary operation for our Reinhardshagen Volunteer Fire Department,” said a fire department spokesperson.
“For some of the emergency personnel, it is the first time they have been confronted with death in this way.
“Therefore, a great deal is being done to help us process these images. We will also discuss this among ourselves and within families, because not everyone can easily shake off what they have seen.”
An investigation into the accident is ongoing and is being conducted by the Hofgeismar police station.
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