President Joe Biden, in a call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, expressed his support for a ceasefire between Israeli and Gaza’s radical Hamas rulers, but he said Israeli air strikes and Hamas rocket bombs. Stopped demanding an immediate suspension of the eight days of murder. Over 200 people, most of them Palestinians.
Biden’s cautious verbal statement was a reading of the White House on Monday for a second known call to Netanyahu in the three days of intensified attacks, despite his determination to move the focus of US foreign policy away from the Middle East. The eastern conflict came to the administration under pressure to respond more strongly.
Biden’s comments on the ceasefire were free-form and, in principle, similar to the previous administration’s support statement for the ceasefire. This is in contrast to dozens of Democrats and other lawmakers requesting an immediate suspension. However, reading the call to Israeli leaders has shown growing White House concerns about aerial and rocket attacks. Israeli airstrikes aimed at weakening Hamas — While sticking to strong support for Israel.
“US leaders encouraged Israel to make every effort to ensure the protection of innocent civilians,” the White House said in its reading.
Officials familiar with the call expressed their support and said the decision not to explicitly demand a ceasefire was intentional. Biden and top aides are concerned about increased bloodshed and loss of innocent life, but the decision not to demand an immediate suspension of hostilities upholds Israel’s right to protect itself from Hamas. Officials said it reflected their determination, subject to anonymity. Discuss personal deliberations.
Netanyahu told Israeli security officials late Monday that Israel would “continue to attack terrorist targets” in Gaza “as long as it was necessary to restore peace and security to all Israeli citizens.”
As the worst battle between Israel and Palestine intensified since 2014, the Biden administration limited public criticism to Hamas and refused to send top-level envoys to the region. It also refused to put direct public pressure on Israel to end its latest military operation in the Gaza Strip, a 6-mile x 25-mile territory with more than 2 million people. Ceasefire mediation by Egypt and others is showing no signs of progress.
Separately, Israel’s largest ally, the United States, has unanimously expressed “grave concern” over the intensifying conflict between Israel and Palestinia and the loss of civilian lives by the UN Security Council of 15 countries. It blocked what would have been a statement for the third time on Monday. The final US refusal has killed a Security Council statement, at least for now.
White House spokesman Jen Psaki and national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States was instead focusing on “quiet and focused diplomacy.”
Biden takes US diplomatic policy from conflicts in the Middle East and Central Asia, including the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and the end of support for Saudi-led wars in Yemen, to focus on other policy priorities. I decided to pull them apart. Internationally for the United States, it means confronting climate change and addressing the rise of China.
That change carries risks, including the weathering of violence as the United States retreats from hotspots.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States is ready to help if Israel and Hamas show interest in ending hostilities, speaking in Denmark at the first stop of an unrelated tour of the Nordic countries. As mentioned, the United States demands that they do so, which was not the case.
“Ultimately, it’s up to the parties to make it clear that they want to pursue a ceasefire,” Blinken said. He explained US contacts to help end the battle, including a phone call that was made in the air between the Nordic stops.
Blinken strives to drive the United States’ climate change arrangements, withdraw troops from Afghanistan, and draw attention to what Biden considers to be the country’s most pressing foreign policy priority. Defended the US response to the conflict between Israel and Palestine decades ago.
It is “a big world and we are responsible,” he said.
Senate leader Chuck Schumer joined dozens of Democrats, a Republican, and independent Senator Bernie Sanders on Monday, calling for a suspension on both sides. Prominent Democrat Adam Schiff, chairman of the House intelligence committee, pressured more involvement in the United States over the weekend.
As the death toll increases, progressive Democrats become more candid by demanding pressure on Israel, and Republicans and Conservative Democrats are politically problematic U.S. like support for Israel. It’s been relatively quiet about the problem.
Missouri Democrat Cori Bush linked the Palestinian issue to the African-American issue.
“We oppose the use of our money to fund militarized police, occupation, and systems of violent repression and trauma,” Bush tweeted.
However, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, the Republican Party, took a seat in the Senate on Monday and attacked lawmakers for including Israel in the ceasefire request.
“Both sides say that both sides need to downplay the terrorists’ responsibility to initiate the conflict in the first place, suggesting that the Israelis have no right to protect themselves from the ongoing rocket barrage.” McConnell said.
In a Democratic shot, McConnell said, “The United States needs to stand in a square behind our allies, and President Biden has false equivalence between the terrorist invaders and the responsible nation that protects itself. Must remain strong against the growing voice within his own party that produces. “
Senator Rick Scott (Florida), led 19 Republican senators, has announced a resolution in support of the Israeli side of the fight. They plan to introduce the law next week.
Blinken also said he sought evidence from Israel that Hamas was operating in the Gaza office building, which houses the Associated Press and Al Jazeera news stations destroyed by Israeli airstrikes over the weekend. However, he personally said, “I have never seen the information provided.”
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Knickmeyer reported from Oklahoma City, Lee from Copenhagen, Denmark, and Lederer from New York. Contributed by Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Alan Fulham, Armor Madani, Padmananda Rama, and Joshua Boke of Washington.