Biden called for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza during a phone call with Benjamin Netanyahu.
Washington:
U.S. President Joe Biden warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that U.S. policy toward Israel depends on the protection of civilians in Gaza, raising concerns about possible military aid after an Israeli attack killed seven aid workers. conditions gave the strongest hint.
In his first call following the death of a US World Central Kitchen employee on Monday, Biden also called for an “immediate ceasefire” following “unacceptable” attacks in Gaza and the broader humanitarian situation.
Democrat Joe Biden is facing growing pressure in an election year over his support for Israel’s war in Gaza, with allies urging him to consider making billions of dollars in annual U.S. military aid to key allies contingent on Netanyahu heeding calls For restraint.
Biden “made clear that Israel needs to announce and implement a set of specific, concrete and measurable measures to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering and the safety of aid workers,” the White House said in the briefing.
“He made clear that U.S. policy toward Gaza will depend on our assessment of Israel taking these steps immediately.”
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the United States hopes to see action “in the coming hours and days” including a “significant” increase in aid to Gaza, where it has warned of impending famine.
Kirby acknowledged that the call came after Netanyahu’s “increasing frustration” even as he reiterated that U.S. support for Israel’s security was “unwavering.”
A key Biden confidant had earlier urged him to use the leverage provided by Washington’s huge military aid to Israel – which Biden has resisted for the past six months.
“I think we’ve reached that point,” Democratic Sen. Chris Coons from the president’s home state of Delaware told CNN.
Coons said “I will vote to provide conditional aid to Israel” if Israel begins a long-threatened all-out offensive in the southern city of Rafah without a plan to protect the estimated 1.5 million people who have taken refuge there.
“I’ve never said anything like this before, I’ve never been there before,” he added.
Biden is also reportedly facing pressure from closer to home — from first lady Jill Biden.
“Stop it, stop it now,” she told the president, based on comments Biden himself made to a guest at a White House meeting with members of the Muslim community, regarding the mounting civilian casualties in Gaza. New York Times.
– ‘Angry and heartbroken’ –
Biden has backed Israel’s six-month war sparked by an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas but has increasingly expressed frustration with Israel’s right-wing prime minister over the soaring death toll and dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.
In his strongest statement since the war began, Biden said he was “outraged and heartbroken” by Israel’s killing of seven aid workers, including a U.S. and Canadian citizen.
Israel said the deaths were unintentional.
But Biden’s remarks did not include any concrete steps to limit the billions of dollars in military aid Washington provides to its key regional allies.
In a sign of business as usual, the Biden administration approved the transfer of thousands of bombs to Israel on the same day it launched an attack that killed seven aid workers, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
Many Democrats fear the controversy could hurt Biden’s chances of reelection in November, defeating Republican Donald Trump, as Muslim and young voters express anger about Gaza.
A former top aide to Barack Obama, who served as Biden’s vice president, called on Biden to back up his words with action.
“The U.S. government is still providing 2,000 pounds of bombs and munitions to support Israeli policies,” Ben Rhodes, a former deputy national security adviser in the Obama administration, wrote on X .
“This anger has no effect until there are substantive consequences. Bibi (Netanyahu) clearly does not care about what the United States says, but what the United States does.”
American voters are also increasingly opposed to Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
According to a Gallup poll released on March 27, 55% of people now disapprove of Israel’s actions, while only 36% approve.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
