Gaza war
Biden warns Netanyahu: US support depends on action in Gaza
US President Joe Biden (photo) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to each other for around 30 minutes, according to US sources
© CNP via ZUMA Press Wire / Action Press
The USA has criticized the actions of its ally Israel in the Gaza war more sharply than ever before. In a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Joe Biden called for concrete steps to protect civilians.
It was the first conversation between the two politicians since the death of seven employees of the aid organization World Central Kitchen (WCK) in an Israeli air strike, about which the US President was “outraged”. In a conversation with the Israeli head of government, Biden called the attacks on humanitarian workers and the general humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory “unacceptable,” the White House said.
Joe Biden calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza
Israel must take “a series of specific, concrete and measurable steps” to prevent harm to civilians, reduce human suffering and ensure the safety of aid workers, the US president said.
At the same time, Biden again called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. According to the information, Biden also urged that Netanyahu authorize his negotiators “without delay” to conclude an agreement on the release of the hostages kidnapped by the militant Palestinian organization Hamas.
Biden has so far consistently supported Israel in the war against the radical Islamic Hamas, including with arms deliveries. However, the US President has recently been increasingly critical of Israel’s conduct of the war in view of the humanitarian emergency in the Gaza Strip.
The war in the Gaza Strip was triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented major attack on Israel on October 7th, in which, according to Israeli information, around 1,170 people were killed and around 250 others were kidnapped as hostages in the Gaza Strip.
Since then, Israel has taken massive military action in the Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified, more than 33,000 people have been killed so far.