Biden told Netanyahu it would be a 'mistake' to launch offensive on Rafah: White House reveals details of first call in a month and confirms Israel killed Hamas No. 3 leader Marwan Issa in an airstrike

President Joe Biden told Benjamin Netanyah that it would be a 'mistake' to launch an offensive on Rafah and got the Israeli prime minister to agree to send a team of Israeli officials to Washington to discuss the situation. 

'A major ground operation there would be a mistake, it would lead to more innocent civilian deaths, worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen the anarchy in Gaza, and further isolate Israel internationally,' White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in the press briefing on Monday where he gave a read out of the leaders' call.

He also confirmed Israel killed Hamas's number three military official, Marwan Issa, in a strike earlier this week. Israel claims Issa was one of the planners of the Oct. 7th attack that started the war.

The Southern city of Rafah contains about 1.5 million displaced Palestinians and has been in Israeli sight lines. The administration has been concerned about civilian casualities there in case of an attack.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan: 'There are ways for Israel to prevail in this conflict, to secure its long-term future, to end the terror threat from Gaza and not smash into Rafah'

On their call, the first time Biden and the Israeli prime minister have spoken in a month, Biden asked Netanyahu to send a team of military, intelligence and humanitarian officials to Washington to discuss Israel's planning for Rafah and to lay out an alternative approach that would target Hamas and secure the Egypt-Gaza border without a full-scale invasion.

Netanyahu had agreed to the request for a meeting, Sullivan said. 

'There are ways for Israel to prevail in this conflict, to secure its long-term future, to end the terror threat from Gaza and not smash into Rafah,' Sullivan said. 

He noted Biden also questioned Netanyahu over a lack of a 'coherent and sustainable strategy´ to defeat Hamas. 

Extreme food shortages in parts of Gaza have already far exceeded famine levels, and mass death is now imminent without an immediate ceasefire, the United Nations has warned.

The World Food Program also warned that 'famine is imminent' in northern Gaza, where 70% of the remaining population is experiencing catastrophic hunger, and that a further escalation of the war could push around half of Gaza´s population to the brink of starvation.

Sullivan called the report 'alarming.'

'We're proud to be the largest contributor of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, but there's more we can do and there's more others can do as well. This has to be an all hands on deck effort,' he said.

Biden and Netanyahu's conversation came as tensions are growing between the two countries over the war in Gaza.

Sullivan denied reports the call ended abruptly, saying each man got their say. He described it as a 'business-like' conversation. 

It was the first time the two leaders have spoken since Biden was caught saying on a hot mic he was going to have a 'come to Jesus' meeting with Netanyahu and after Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York called on Israel to have new elections.

The leaders last spoke on February 15.  

Before the latest call Biden had praised Schumer's remarks as a 'good speech' that 'expressed serious concern' shared by 'many Americans' - although he stopped short of calling for new elections.

Netanyahu snapped back at Schumer, calling his remarks 'totally inappropriate.'

'That's something that Israel, the Israeli public, does on its own,' the Israeli prime minister told CNN. 'We're not a banana republic.'

The Southern city of Rafah contains about 1.5 million displaced Palestinians 

President Joe Biden will speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, their first call in more than a month

Netanyahu also vowed to continue his attacks on Hamas into the southern city of Rafah where more than 1 million displaced Palestinians have fled, despite growing international pressure for a cease-fire.  

American officials have said they would not support a Rafah offensive unless Israel produced a viable plan for evacuating civilians. White House spokesman John Kirby said the administration had not seen such plans as of last Friday.

Tensions have ratched up between the U.S. and Israel over how to get food and aid into the Gaza Strip. Biden is under intense pressure at home and abroad to get a temporary ceasefire into place. 

The death toll in Gaza has surpassed 31,500, according to the Health Ministry, with another 73,500 injured. 

Last week, Schumer said Netanyahu had 'lost his way' and had become an 'obstacle to peace' due to putting together a coalition of 'far-right extremists' to lead the Israeli government in its war against Hamas after the October 7 terror attacks.

Schumer also accused Netanyahu of letting his political survival supersede 'the best interests of Israel' and of being 'too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza.' 

Israeli officials reacted with fury to Schumer's remarks. 

'Israel is a sovereign democracy. It is unhelpful, all the more so as Israel is at war against the genocidal terror organization Hamas, to comment on the domestic political scene of a democratic ally. It is counterproductive to our common goals,' Israel's Ambassador to the U.S., Michael Herzog said.

Senator Chuck Schumer said Netanyahu had 'lost his way' and had become an 'obstacle to peace' due to putting together a coalition of 'far-right extremists' to lead the Israeli government in its war against Hamas after the October 7 terror attacks

President Joe Biden (second right) speaks with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (left), Secretary of State Antony Blinken (second left), and Senator Michael Bennet (right with back to camera) as he made his remarks about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 

Biden also has show signs of frustration with Netanyahu.

He was caught on a hot mic, saying the two men will need to have a 'come to Jesus meeting.'

Biden made the comment on the House floor after his State of the Union address while he was speaking with Democratic Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

In the conversation on the House floor, which played out live on television cameras that had recorded Biden's speech, Bennet congratulated Biden on his address to the nation and urged him to  keep pressing Netanyahu on humanitarian crisis. 

Blinken nodded along in agreement.

Biden answers using Netanyahu's nickname, saying: 'I told him, Bibi, and don't repeat this, but you and I are going to have a 'come to Jesus' meeting.'

Biden's bodyman Jacob Spreyer then leans in and whispers to the president, apparently warning Biden he is on a hot mic.

'I'm on a hot mic here,' Biden says after Spreyer spoke to him. 'Good. That's good.'

Biden has already ordered US airlifts of aid to the Gaza strip. And, in his speech, he announced that he's directing the military to build a port on the Gaza coast to bring relief to the population there. 

'The United States is a leading international efforts to get more humanitarian assistance to Gaza,' he said.

He noted the temporary pier 'will enable a massive increase in humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza.' 

That does not mean U.S. military personnel will be on the ground in the war torn region. 

White House officials offered no time line for when the pier will be built or where exactly it will be located but said its construction will allow more shipments of food, medicine and other essential items to be delivered to the 2.2 million Palestinians.

They said the White House will coordinate with the Israelis regarding security on the ground and with the United Nations and humanitarian groups on getting aid delivered. 

Biden's bodyman Jacob Spreyer (left) leans in to warn the president about the hot mic

President Joe Biden has been showing his frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - above the two men meet in Tel Aviv in October

The temporary pier will allow for hundreds of additional truckloads of assistance each day, the officials said. It will be an additional route for humanitarian aid, which is currently limited to two land crossings into the southern part of Gaza.

Other countries will be involved in its construction but it's unclear if Israel will be. 

The project could take more than 30 to 60 days to construct and would involve hundreds or thousands of U.S. troops on ships just off shore. It will also require armed escorts and other protective measures.

Some of Biden's own Democrats have been frustrated with his handling of the Israel-Hamas war. 

During that section of Biden's State of the Union Address , Democratic Representatives Rashida Tlaib, Alyanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, and Cori Bush held up 'lasting cease-fire now' signs.

The president has seen a concerning number of Democrats vote 'uncommitted' in primaries in key battleground states like Michigan and Minnesota, most of whom are unhappy with his treatment of Palestinians.

In Minnesota on Tuesday, nearly 20 percent of Democratic voters in the state voted uncommitted. The week before, more than 100,000 voters in Michigan voted the same.

A famine has not yet been declared for Gaza but 20% of households suffer from an extreme lack of food, 30% of children suffer from acute malnutrition and 2 in 10,000 people dying per day 'due to outright starvation or to the interaction of malnutrition and disease,' the World Food Program said.

In his address on Thursday, Biden called on the Israelis to do more to alleviate the suffering even as they try to eliminate Hamas. He called the situation in Gaza 'heartbreaking.'

'To Israel, I say this humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip,' Biden said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was furious when his war cabinet member Benny Gantz (above), his possible political opponent, had meetings at the White House

Palestinians rescue a man and his children from the rubble of a destroyed house following an Israeli air strike in the town of Al-Zawaida in the Gaza strip

The White House has been gone from all-out support for Israel to showing its frustration with Netanyahu. The administration is pushing for a ceasefire in the region to get hostages out and critical aid in.

Last month, Vice President Kamala Harris met with Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz at the White House - in a move that infuriated Netanyahu.

Gantz, a centrist political rival of Netanyahu who frequently criticizes the prime minister, sat down with several senior Biden administration officials during his trip to Washington D.C., including Harris, Blinken, National Security Council Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk and Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser. 

He also met with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders. 

Gantz, who polls show could be a formidable candidate for prime minister if a vote were held today, is viewed as a political moderate. If the heavy fighting subsides, Gantz will leave the government, which would increase pressure for early elections.

Netanyahu was reportedly furious at Gantz's White House meeting.