February 16, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the “ongoing hostage negotiations” and the “situation in Rafah,” according to a White House readout released Thursday.

CNN previously reported that all eyes are on Rafah, where well over a million Palestinian refugees are taking shelter in a massive tent city.

Despite international pressure, Netanyahu has continued to convey that the Israel Defense Forces will move into the Rafah area at some point. Many fear that military action in the refugee tent city could spark the exodus, but also result in the deaths of thousands of civilians.

Biden also raised the “ongoing hostage negotiations” in his call with Netanyahu as well.

The two leaders spoke last on Sunday and, in that call, discussed a deal to secure the release of hostages in Gaza at length, according to a senior administration official.

United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday and said his country is "deeply concerned" about the loss of civilian life in Gaza, according to a Downing Street spokesperson.

Sunak also expressed the UK's concern on the "potentially devastating humanitarian impact" of an Israeli military operation in Rafah, the spokesperson said.

The prime minister urged Israel to open "the Kerem Shalom crossing and allow the maritime delivery of international aid through Ashdod port," the spokesperson said.

Sunak stressed the need for Israel to abide by International Humanitarian Law and protect civilian infrastructure like hospitals and shelters.

Egypt is building a miles-wide buffer zone and wall along its border with Gaza, new satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies shows. 

The images, taken in the last five days, show a significant section of Egyptian territory between a roadway and the Gaza border has been bulldozed. 

When the buffer zone — which stretches from the end of the Gaza border to the Mediterranean Sea — is completed, it will engulf the Egyptian-Rafah border crossing complex.

At the actual border, multiple cranes were seen laying sections of wall.

Additional satellite imagery reviewed by CNN shows that bulldozers arrived on site on February 3, and that the initial excavation of the buffer zone began on February 6. 

There has been a significant uptick in excavation in the last five days. 

Videos released by the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights show construction of the border wall, which they said would be 5 meters (16 feet) high. 

The organization, which describes itself as a non-governmental human rights group, said two local contractors told them the border wall was commissioned by the Egyptian armed forces. CNN has reached out to the Egyptian government for comment.

The construction comes as fears that the already horrific humanitarian situation in Gaza will worsen, causing thousands of deaths and a mass exodus of Palestinians over Egypt's border. 

All eyes are on Rafah, situated along the new buffer zone, where over a million Palestinian refugees are taking shelter in a massive tent city. 

Despite international pressure, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained that the Israeli forces will enter Rafah. Many fear that military action in the refugee tent city could spark an exodus, but also result in the deaths of thousands of civilians. 

Netanyahu continues to rail against Egypt for not closing the Philadelphi Corridor — the strip of land between Egypt and Gaza and the strip's only non-Israeli controlled border. Netanyahu has said that Israel would not consider the war over until it was closed.

A spokesperson in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has rejected any discussion, for the moment, about a Palestinian state.

CNN had asked Hyman about reporting by The Washington Post that the Biden administration and “a small group of Middle East partners” are working to formulate a comprehensive peace plan, which “could be announced as early as the next several weeks.”

“Here is Israel, we’re still in the aftermath of the October 7th massacre,” Hyman said.

President Joe Biden has made clear that he hopes that a ceasefire deal, which would see the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, could lead to a more lasting peace “on the basis of the two-state solution.”