Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke this evening, Sunday, with US President Joe Biden, in light of an imminent attack on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where about 1.5 million residents of the Strip who were displaced from the north and center of the Strip are concentrated in this area.

This came in their first conversation about 3 weeks ago, when they spoke on January 19, after Biden described the Israeli military response in Gaza as “exaggerated.”

The Washington Post reported today that “Biden and his senior aides are closer to breaking with Netanyahu than at any time since the start of the war on Gaza.”

The newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying, “The Biden administration no longer views Netanyahu as a partner who can be influenced, even in secret.”

A leadership source in Hamas warned today that “any attack by the occupation army on the city of Rafah means torpedoing the exchange negotiations.”

He stressed that "Netanyahu is trying to evade the entitlements of the exchange deal by committing genocide and a new humanitarian disaster in Rafah."

Earlier today, Netanyahu touched on Israel's expansion of its attack on Rafah, and claimed during an interview with the American network ABC, "Victory is imminent. We will reach the last Hamas brigades present in Rafah, and we will implement this order."

Regarding the international warnings about the consequences of the attack on Rafah, Netanyahu considered that, “Whoever tells us that under all circumstances we are prohibited from entering Rafah, is practically telling us to lose the war and keep Hamas there. We are about to reach the last Hamas brigades in Rafah, which constitute "The last stronghold."

Against the backdrop of American warnings against attacking Rafah due to the presence of the huge number of displaced people there, Netanyahu said: “I agree with them on that,” and claimed that Israel is “working on a detailed plan, through which we will ensure safe passage for the civilian population.”

The Israeli Broadcasting Authority (“Kan 11”) reported yesterday evening that the US administration sent a message to Israel during the past few days, warning it against launching a military operation in Rafah during the month of Ramadan, considering that this would not only lead to “escalation in Gaza” but To a comprehensive escalation in the region.

The channel indicated that Arab countries also issued similar warnings to Israel. This comes as the American CNN network reported, citing an unnamed Israeli official, that Netanyahu informed the “war cabinet” on Thursday that the Israeli forces’ operation in Rafah “must be completed by the beginning of the month of Ramadan on the tenth of next March.” ".

The Israeli government is preparing to send a high-level security delegation to the Egyptian capital, Cairo, next week, to participate in an American-Egyptian-Qatari meeting regarding deal negotiations between Hamas and Israel.

Israel conditions its participation in the American-Egyptian-Qatari meetings in Cairo on “softening” the position of the Hamas movement, in reference to its response to the Paris proposal that was held about two weeks ago.

Israeli officials said, “If Hamas does not express a softer position, Israel will not send a delegation to the talks” in Cairo, according to what Israeli Channel 13 reported on Friday evening, and made it clear that the cabinet had taken a decision in this regard.