President Joe Biden said he believed there should be a humanitarian pause in the war between Israel and Hamas after his campaign speech was interrupted Wednesday evening by a protester calling for a ceasefire.
I think we need a break, Biden said.
The call was a subtle departure for Biden and top White House aides, who have stood firm during the Middle East crisis that they will not dictate how the Israelis conduct their military operations in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
But the president has faced increasing pressure from human rights groups, fellow world leaders and even liberal members of his own Democratic Party, who say the Israeli bombardment of Gaza is collective punishment and that it is time for a ceasefire .
In his remarks, Biden put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give the Palestinians at least a brief reprieve from the brutal military operation that has left thousands dead and plunged the 230-square-kilometer strip into a roiling humanitarian crisis.
The White House has declined to call for a ceasefire but has indicated that Israelis should consider humanitarian pauses so that civilians can receive aid and foreigners stuck in the Strip have a chance to leave Gaza.
Israeli ground forces have advanced in heavy fighting with militants near Gaza City, the army said on Wednesday. Meanwhile, hundreds of foreigners and dozens of seriously injured Palestinians were allowed to leave Gaza after more than three weeks of siege.
The first people to leave Gaza, with the exception of four hostages released by Hamas and another rescued by Israeli forces, entered Egypt and escaped even as bombing drove hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and food, water and fuel ran out.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said earlier on Wednesday that Biden’s newly confirmed ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, would soon be deployed to the Middle East and would be tasked in part with supporting U.S. efforts to to create the conditions for a humanitarian pause in the Middle East. to address the deteriorating humanitarian conditions faced by Palestinian civilians.
Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Herzog told The Hill on NewsNation on Wednesday that no push is needed in response to calls for more aid for Gaza.
We are increasing humanitarian aid supplies to Gaza in areas far away from Hamas in the southern part of Gaza. The number of truck loads is doubling and will continue to increase,” he said. We provide water. We provide other types of supplies.
He told NewsNation they were happy to see foreigners leaving Gaza. “So we don’t need any pressure, not in that sense either. Our Cabinet discussed this issue this week and decided that there are no restrictions as long as we can ensure that Hamas does not obtain humanitarian supplies and use them to feed its country.” war machine. That will not happen. Apart from that everything is open.
On Wednesday night, Biden was speaking to a crowd of supporters in Minneapolis about his reasons for running for president in 2020, when a woman stood up and shouted: Mr. President, if you care about the Jewish people, I need you as a rabbi. call for a ceasefire.”
His presence in the city attracted more than a thousand demonstrators not far from where the fundraiser was held, carrying Palestinian flags and signs reading “Stop Bombing Children,” “Liberate Palestine and Now a Ceasefire” fire’.
Biden said he understood the emotions that motivated the protester, who was quickly shouted down and removed by others in the room. When asked, he said a break “means giving time to get the prisoners out. White House officials later clarified that he meant hostages and humanitarian aid.
This is incredibly complicated for the Israelis,” Biden continued. “It’s also incredibly complicated for the Muslim world. … I have supported a two-state solution, from the very beginning.
The fact is that Hamas is a terrorist organization. A full-blown terrorist organization,” he said.
But Biden noted that he has been working on humanitarian aid and said he was the one who convinced both Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi to allow aid into Gaza.
I am the man, he said.
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