Biden Urges Temporary Cease-Fire in Gaza

U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday that he has had numerous lengthy phone conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the past several days, and that he asked Netanyahu for a temporary cease-fire in the Gaza Strip to get the hostages out.

"I'm still hopeful that that can be done," Biden told reporters at the White House.

"I don't anticipate, I'm hoping, that the Israelis will not make any massive land invasion in the meantime. So, it's my expectation that's not going to happen. There has to be a cease-fire," he said.

Biden pointed out that the Hamas-held hostages are not only Israelis, but "it's American hostages as well." He said hostage negotiations are taking place and expressed hope that they will be brought home.

International court hearings

On Monday, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations' highest legal body, will launch six days of hearings about the legal consequences of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Fifty-two states will present arguments at the hearings. The court is acting on a request made in 2022 by the U.N. General Assembly for a nonbinding opinion on the occupation.

Although Israel has ignored such opinions in the past, the hearing and subsequent ruling of the ICJ could add political pressure over its military offensive in Gaza that has so far killed more than 28,000 people, mostly civilians, and injured more than 60,000 others, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry.

In addition, Israel has argued that the ICJ should reject a South African request that the court issue additional emergency measures to protect Palestinians' rights in Rafah.

Israel said that the emergency measures issued by the ICJ last month cover "the situation of hostilities in Gaza as a whole," according to documents released Thursday by the ICJ.

Israel asked the court to reject South Africa's request, which was filed Tuesday. In that filing, South Africa said there had been a "significant development" since the court's January ruling, meaning Netanyahu's announced offensive on Rafah.

Last month, the ICJ ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent the deaths of Palestinian civilians, after South Africa, a longtime supporter of the Palestinian cause, accused the Israeli military of genocide in Gaza.

Israel has denied it is committing genocide.

It was not clear when the judges will rule on South Africa's latest request.

Hospital raid

Israeli forces searched the grounds of southern Gaza's main hospital Friday, a day after raiding the complex.

The hospital's generators stopped working after the raid, the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry said, and five patients in intensive care died when their oxygen was cut off.

Israel's military said it took control of the hospital because it had intelligence that there were Israeli hostages and hostages' bodies in the hospital.

So far, no living or dead hostages from the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel have been found at the site, according to Israeli military officials.

Gaza's health ministry has accused the Israelis of disrupting the care of the hospital's patients when they raided the building. The Israelis have denied that claim.

Egypt wall

Meanwhile, Egypt is building a wall near its border with Rafah, the southern Gazan city and border crossing teeming with more than 1 million Palestinians who have been forced out of their homes by the Israeli offensive.

Satellite pictures show that Egypt is also bulldozing land in the area. Israel has announced it plans to launch an invasion into Rafah.

Egypt has said it would not open its border to Palestinians, but news of the wall and bulldozer work could indicate that Egypt may be ready to reverse that decision.

Netanyahu 'no' to Palestinian state

Netanyahu posted on social media early Friday that recognition of a Palestinian state "would give a huge reward to unprecedented terrorism."

His comments came after talking with Biden and an Israeli Cabinet meeting, as well as a Washington Post report that the United States and its Arab allies plan to promote a two-state resolution to the ongoing Middle East conflict.

"Israel outright rejects international dictates regarding permanent arrangements with the Palestinians," Netanyahu posted on X, formerly Twitter.

He wrote that any arrangements with the Palestinians "will be reached only through direct negotiations between the parties, without preconditions."

Where the war stands

At least 28,576 Palestinians have been killed and 68,291 wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry.

The war started with the Hamas terror attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and led to the capture of about 240 hostages, 100 of whom were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November.

Since Israel began its air and ground offensive, it has defended its practice of ordering people to evacuate parts of Gaza throughout the war, saying the warnings are for the safety and protection of Palestinian civilians.

The repeated evacuations and the war's move from northern Gaza toward the south have pushed more than half of Gaza's population to seek refuge in Rafah, near the Egyptian border.

Australia, Canada and New Zealand on Thursday became the latest countries to join in an international expression of concern for the Palestinians in Rafah ahead of an expected ground offensive by Israeli forces.