- During his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden urged Israel to allow aid to Gaza
- On the way home, he called the Egyptian president and made an agreement to open the border
- But many Israelis only wanted help to arrive as part of a deal to return hostages
The families of Israelis taken hostage by Hamas on Thursday reached a deal to allow aid to the Gaza Strip while their relatives continue to be held underground “like animals.”
A day earlier, President Joe Biden ended a seven-hour visit by announcing that Egypt had agreed to open the border to allow trucks to enter.
Israel also said it would allow Egypt to deliver limited humanitarian aid to the area, the first easing of a 10-day siege after Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,400 people.
A group formed to represent the 199 or more people believed to have been kidnapped said the decision angered the families of the missing.
“The decision to allow humanitarian aid to Gaza’s killers has caused great anger among family members,” said Bring Them Home Now.
More than 199 Israelis are believed to have been kidnapped by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The issue makes their relatives a powerful political force in Israel as it decides how to tackle Hamas and plan a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, where the hostages are being held.
President Joe Biden spoke to reporters traveling with him aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington, describing the concessions he won from Israel and Egypt on aid to Gaza.
“We remind you that children, babies, women, soldiers, men and the elderly – some of whom have serious health problems, have been injured or have been shot – are being kept underground like animals without any human conditions, and that the government of Israel is turning the murderers into baklava and medicine.’
It is a very charged issue. Many Israelis believed that aid was crucial leverage that could be used to secure the release of hostages.
But easing suffering among Palestinians was one of the main objectives of Biden’s visit, along with standing in solidarity with Israel and warning other armed groups against expanding the conflict.
However, Arab leaders’ decision to cancel a summit in Jordan meant he left the region without meeting a number of key figures.
Instead, Biden spoke by phone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as he flew back to Washington. Sisi agreed to reopen his country’s sealed border to allow up to 20 trucks carrying humanitarian supplies to cross.
Biden told reporters traveling with him that the deal included conditions on blocking aid to militant groups.
“If Hamas seizes them or doesn’t let them through… that’s the end of it,” he said as Air Force One was refueled at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
He said Sisi deserved high praise.
“He was completely cooperative… He resigned, just like Bibi,” he added, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A woman holds a sign bearing the face of one of the Israeli hostages held by Palestinian militants since the October 7 attack near Tel Aviv’s Azrieli Mall
Biden was greeted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday morning when he arrived on Israeli soil. Aid was one of the three main issues he wanted to raise with the Israeli leader
Demands to allow aid to Gaza have grown as the humanitarian crisis worsens, twelve days after the attack on Israel.
The Israeli army has besieged the area, cutting off electricity and blocking the supply of food, fuel and water.
Hospitals say they are running out of medicine and surgeons are operating without anesthesia.
Israel softened its position after Biden spent an hour-long meeting with Netanyahu, during which the US president reportedly claimed it would help keep world opinion with Israel in the fight against Hamas.
“In light of President Biden’s request, Israel will not prevent the flow of humanitarian aid from Egypt as long as it provides food, water and medical supplies for the Palestinian population in the southern Gaza Strip and as long as it does not go to Hamas. . Any aid diverted to Hamas will be prevented,” Netanyahu’s office said.