Biden and Netanyahu speak as pressure's on Israel over planned Rafah invasion and cease-fire talks

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The White House on Sunday said U.S. President Joe Biden had again spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as pressure builds on Israel and Hamas to reach a deal that would free some Israeli hostages and bring a cease-fire in the nearly seven-month-long war in Gaza.

The White House said that Biden reiterated his “clear position” as Israel plans to invade Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah despite global concern for more than 1 million Palestinians sheltering there. The U.S. opposes the invasion on humanitarian grounds, straining relations between the allies. Israel is among the countries U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit as he returns to the Middle East on Monday.

Biden also stressed that progress in delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza be “sustained and enhanced,” according to the statement. The call lasted just under an hour, and they agreed the onus remains on Hamas to accept the latest offer in negotiations, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official wasn't authorized to comment publicly. There was no comment from Netanyahu's office.

A senior official from key intermediary Qatar, meanwhile, urged Israel and Hamas to show “more commitment and more seriousness" in negotiations. Qatar, which hosts Hamas' headquarters in Doha, was instrumental along with the U.S. and Egypt in helping negotiate a brief halt to the fighting in November that led to the release of dozens of hostages. But in a sign of frustration, Qatar this month said that it was reassessing its role.

An Israeli delegation is expected in Egypt in the coming days to discuss the latest proposals in negotiations, and senior Hamas official Basem Naim said in a message to The Associated Press that a delegation from the militant group will also head to Cairo. Egypt’s state-owned Al Qahera News satellite television channel said that the delegation would arrive on Monday.

The comments by Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari in interviews with the liberal daily Haaretz and Israeli public broadcaster Kan were published and aired Saturday evening.

Al-Ansari expressed disappointment with Hamas and Israel, saying each side has made decisions based on political interests and not with civilians' welfare in mind. He didn't reveal details on the talks other than to say they have “effectively stopped,” with “both sides entrenched in their positions.”

Al-Ansari’s remarks came after an Egyptian delegation discussed with Israeli officials a “new vision” for a prolonged cease-fire in Gaza, according to an Egyptian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to freely discuss developments.

The Egyptian official said that Israeli officials are open to discussing establishing a permanent cease-fire in Gaza as part of the second phase of a deal. Israel has refused to end the war until it defeats Hamas.

The second phase would start after the release of civilian and sick hostages, and would include negotiating the release of soldiers, the official added. Senior Palestinian prisoners would be released and a reconstruction process launched.

Negotiations earlier this month centered on a six-week cease-fire proposal and the release of 40 civilian and sick hostages held by Hamas in exchange for freeing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

A letter written by Biden and 17 other world leaders urged Hamas to release their citizens immediately. In recent days, Hamas has released new videos of three hostages, an apparent push for Israel to make concessions.

The growing pressure for Hamas and Israel to reach a cease-fire deal is also meant to avert an Israeli attack on Rafah, the city on the border with Egypt where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is seeking shelter. Israel has massed dozens of tanks and armored vehicles. The planned incursion has raised global alarm.

“Only a small strike is all it takes to force everyone to leave Palestine," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas asserted to the opening session of the World Economic Forum in Saudi Arabia, adding that he believed an invasion would happen within days.

But White House national security spokesman John Kirby told ABC that Israel "assured us they won’t go into Rafah until we’ve had a chance to really share our perspectives and concerns with them. So, we’ll see where that goes.”

The Israeli troop buildup may also be a pressure tactic on Hamas in talks. Israel sees Rafah as Hamas’ last major stronghold. It vows to destroy the group's military and governing capabilities.

Aid groups have warned that an invasion of Rafah would worsen the already desperate humanitarian situation in Gaza, where hunger is widespread. About 400 tons of aid arrived Sunday at the Israeli port of Ashdod — the largest shipment yet by sea via Cyprus — according to the United Arab Emirates. It wasn't immediately clear how or when it would be delivered into Gaza.

Also on Sunday, World Central Kitchen said that it would resume operations in Gaza on Monday, ending a four-week suspension after Israeli military drones killed seven of its aid workers. The organization has 276 trucks ready to enter through the Rafah crossing and will also send trucks into Gaza from Jordan, a statement said. It's also examining if the Ashdod port can be used to offload supplies.

The war was sparked by Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7 into southern Israel, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli authorities, who say another 250 people were taken hostage. Hamas and other groups are holding about 130 people, including the remains of about 30, Israeli authorities say.

Israel’s retaliatory assault on Hamas has killed more than 34,000 people, most of them women and children, according to health authorities in Gaza, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants in their tally.

The Israeli military blames Hamas for civilian casualties, accusing it of embedding in residential and public areas. It says it has killed at least 12,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Jon Gambrell reported from Jerusalem and Samy Magdy from Cairo. Ellen Knickmeyer, Aamer Madhani and Matthew Lee contributed to this report from Washington.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

People carry the bodies of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Nuseirat into the Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Mourners pray over the bodies of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Nuseirat, at the Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

People protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

People protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

People protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — When West Virginia Republicans vote in Tuesday's primary, they will have a hard time finding a major candidate on the ballot in any statewide race who openly acknowledges that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election.

Embracing or skirting the line on election denialism has become an unspoken checkoff among Republicans running for governor and Congress in one of the states most loyal to former President Donald Trump. What is spoken — almost constantly — is praise for the party's presumptive White House nominee from a slate of candidates that includes a convicted Jan. 6 insurrectionist as well as the sons of two GOP members of West Virginia's congressional delegation.

Glenn Elliott, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for an open Senate seat, said denying the election outcome was a “purity test" for West Virginia Republicans.

“You’re either with the leader of the party on everything, or you’re kicked out. You’re not a Republican anymore, you’re a ‘RINO,’” he said, using the acronym for “Republicans In Name Only.” "That’s not a party — that’s a cult.”

It's about the worst thing you can call a Republican candidate in West Virginia.

In the crowded governor’s race, Secretary of State Mac Warner has said he “firmly” believes, like Trump, that the election was stolen, even though dozens of courts and audits have determined the race was fairly decided in Biden's favor.

Warner, whose office oversees West Virginia's elections, has said tech companies, the media and federal intelligence officials worked together to cover up incriminating information found on the laptop of Biden’s son Hunter. Warner's statements came a few months after announcing his campaign after years of toeing the line on the 2020 election. The Army veteran said his views have nothing to do with running for office.

“Donald Trump won West Virginia in a landslide,” former state lawmaker Moore Capito, another candidate for governor, said in response to a question from The Associated Press. “And I just wish that the rest of the country would run our elections like we do here in the state of West Virginia.”

Other candidates hedge or do not answer directly.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has refused to provide a yes or no answer to questions about whether Biden won the 2020 race but has asserted that there were “huge irregularities,” “significant irregularities,” and “very, very severe issues” relating to that vote.

Businessman Chris Miller, also a candidate for governor and the son of U.S. Rep. Carol Miller, said people do not trust mail-in ballots. He did not say whether he thought Biden was the legitimate winner.

"If you are voting in-person and see your vote cast, that’s one thing," he said. With mail-in ballots, he added, “You can’t see it. You don’t know what’s happened, and that’s the danger."

Derrick Evans, a former state lawmaker who spent three months in prison for participating in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has escalated his verbal attacks against his primary rival. He calls Carol Miller a “commie RINO” who “refused to stand and fight with President Trump,” as well as an “undocumented Democrat.”

Never mind that Miller was aligned with Trump in almost 100% of her House votes while he was in office.

Evans, in an interview, said he believes his willingness to stand by Trump and say the election was stolen will carry him to victory — even though Miller, hours after Evans and other rioters had stormed the Capitol, voted to challenge the Electoral College results in two states Biden won.

She said in a statement at the time that she had a constitutional duty to “ensure that all Americans have access to free, fair, and accurate elections.”

Evans is undeterred, claiming his role in the violent attack on the Capitol as a badge of honor.

“I think when the people learn I’m the only elected legislator in the entire country who had the courage to stand up against the stolen election and had the courage to stand up beside of President Trump on Jan. 6," he said, “I think that that makes them realize very seriously that I am the guy to represent this district on a national stage.”

In an email to the AP, Carol Miller did not directly address the 2020 result. But she said she is the only candidate in the race who "has never been a registered Democrat or run for office as a Democrat.”

In the West Virginia governor's race, all four major candidates are in lockstep on supporting the state’s coal industry, imposing stiffer penalties for fentanyl dealers and the importance of economic development.

Morrisey, the fundraising front-runner, tossed the “RINO” label at Capito, who is regarded as his main competitor. Morrissey cited a February 2024 social media post from Donald Trump Jr. criticizing a vote by Capito's mother, Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, to send aid to Ukraine. “She’s not up for reelection this year, but her RINO son is running for Governor of West Virginia," Trump Jr. said. “MAGA – Send a message to the Ukraine First RINOs & OPPOSE,” he said, referring to Donald Trump's “Make American Great Again” movement.

Morrisey, in an interview, connected the dots.

“I think the choice is very clear: You have a conservative fighter with a record of getting big things done, and you have members of political royalty, part of the liberal establishment,” Morrisey said.

Moore Capito has since taken every opportunity to make sure voters know where his loyalty lies. In a Republican gubernatorial forum hosted by television station WSAZ, candidates were asked what they could do to help people on fixed incomes struggling to pay their bills amid frequent utility rate increases.

“That’s why it’s incredibly important that we elect Donald Trump as president,” Capito said, after condemning a recently released Biden administration rule that would force coal-fired power plants to capture their emissions or shut down.

Ironically, Republican Gov. Jim Justice, who is running for the Senate seat held by retiring Democrat Joe Manchin, is the only candidate to garner the coveted Trump endorsement in any primary race. And Justice has disagreed with Trump more than most candidates. For example, the governor supported the bipartisan infrastructure act that poured millions of dollars into the state to build out broadband and roads.

Alex Mooney, a congressman running against Justice in the primary, has called Justice a “RINO” at every opportunity. Justice, a former billionaire businessman with a folksy personality that has won him a devoted following, was initially elected as a Democrat in 2017 before becoming a Republican at a Trump rally early in his term. Mooney voted against the infrastructure bill.

Mooney has said he recognizes Biden as president but feels the 2020 election was not a fair one. He voted not to certify Biden's victory in Pennsylvania.

Justice, asked during a news briefing this past week whether he thinks Biden won legitimately, took a defiant tone even as he hedged: “What does it matter? I mean, what in the world does it matter?"

The governor then spun a story he hass told often about something his father told him when he was competing in golf tournaments as a young man.

“Dad would tell me, ‘Son, the only shot that matters in golf is the next shot. If you made a hole in one as your last shot, well, so what?"

FILE - U.S. Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., is shown Feb. 5, 2020, during a subcommittee meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington. Miller is seeking the Republican nomination in West Virginia's 1st Congressional District against challenger Derrick Evans on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

FILE - West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice delivers his annual State of the State address in the House Chambers of the state Capitol, Jan. 11, 2023, in Charleston, W.Va. When West Virginia Republican primary voters head to the polls Tuesday, May 14, 2024, they'll have a hard time finding a major candidate on the ballot in any statewide race who openly acknowledges U.S. President Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election. (AP Photo/Chris Jackson, File)

FILE - West Virginia gubernatorial candidate Mac Warner speaks to supporters at a campaign event at the Charleston Women's Club in Charleston, W.Va., Thursday, May 4, 2023. When West Virginia Republican primary voters head to the polls Tuesday, May 14, 2024, they'll have a hard time finding a major candidate on the ballot in any statewide race who openly acknowledges U.S. President Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean, File)

FILE - West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey speaks during a press conference at the state Capitol, Thursday, May 4, 2023 in Charleston, W.Va. When West Virginia Republican primary voters head to the polls Tuesday, May 14, 2024, they'll have a hard time finding a major candidate on the ballot in any statewide race who openly acknowledges U.S. President Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean, File)

FILE - Rep. Alex Mooney, a Republican candidate for U.S. Representative for West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District, addresses a campaign rally at the Westmoreland Fair Grounds in Greensburg, Pa., May 6, 2022. When West Virginia Republican primary voters head to the polls Tuesday, May 14, 2024, they'll have a hard time finding a major candidate on the ballot in any statewide race who openly acknowledges U.S. President Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

FILE - In this image provided by the West Virginia Legislative Photography, Derrick Evans is shown during his swearing-in ceremony to the West Virginia House of Delegates on Dec. 1, 2020, in Charleston, W.Va. When West Virginia Republican primary voters head to the polls Tuesday, May 14, 2024, they'll have a hard time finding a major candidate on the ballot in any statewide race who openly acknowledges U.S. President Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election.(Will Price/West Virginia Legislative Photography via AP, File)

CORRECTS SPELLING TO MORRISEY NOT MORRISERY FILE - West Virginia gubernatorial candidates, from left, Mac Warner, Chris Miller, moderator and MetroNews Radio host Hoppy Kercheval, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, speaking, and Moore Capito participate in a GOP debate held at The Resort at Glade Springs, Feb. 6, 2024, in Daniels, W.Va. When West Virginia Republicans vote in the primary on Tuesday, May 14, they will have a hard time finding a major candidate on the ballot in any statewide race who openly acknowledges that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election. (Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald via AP, File)