Watch: Bidens welcome King and Queen of Jordan to White House

Watch as Joe Biden and Dr Jill Biden welcome King Abdullah II and Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan to the White House on Monday, 12 February.

As the president hosts the monarch in Washington, the pair are expected to discuss the ongoing effort to free hostages held in Gaza.

It comes after Rafah, in Gaza's south, was pounded by Israeli airstrikes overnight.

Two Israeli hostages were rescued from Rafah overnight following a raid on a heavily guarded apartment which killed at least 67 people, according to a spokesman for the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has signalled his intention to carry out a ground offensive on the city, now home to 1.4 million Palestinian refugees who have fled fighting elsewhere.

Rafah, on the border with Egypt, is one of few Palestinian regions not yet targeted by an Israeli ground offensive. and is providing refuge to more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population.