Destroying Hamas in Rafah will required a ground incursion by Israeli forces, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said following a call by the White House to rethink strategy around the Gaza border city packed with displaced Palestinians, Reuters reports.

Briefing lawmakers, Netanyahu said he had made “supremely clear” to US President Joe Biden “that we are determined to complete the elimination of these [Hamas] battalions in Rafah, and there’s no way to do that except by going in on the ground”.