Biden calls on the Israeli leader to reduce civilian deaths in the conflict with Hamas.
The U.S. aims to provide a passageway through Egypt that will allow innocent Americans and Palestinians living in Gaza to flee the area of hostilities.
In Washington As Israel prepares to destroy Hamas in retaliation for the deadliest attack the nation has experienced in the last 50 years, President Joe Biden pleaded with the Israeli prime minister in a private phone call on Tuesday to reduce civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip, two Biden administration officials and a former official told NBC News.
According to administration sources, the Biden administration is working with other nations to develop a plan that would provide a safe exit from Gaza for civilians who run the risk of being caught in the crossfire in the densely populated coastal enclave.
Under the proposed proposal, American citizens and Palestinian residents in Gaza would be able to flee the conflict area via a southern corridor extending into Egypt.
Civilians who have no affiliation with Hamas run the risk of being rendered homeless or murdered by the bombardment as Israel gets ready for a future ground invasion into Gaza.
According to U.S. officials, Biden was more forthright than before when urging the Israeli military to take precautions to prevent civilian casualties in his conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to Biden’s statement, if Israel is perceived as deploying excessive force that results in the deaths of women, children, and noncombatants, the White House will be aware of any fallout.
Following the phone call, Biden gave a 10-minute speech in which he made it plain that he supports Israel and will commit American military support to shield it from further attacks.
Israel, he continued, “has the right and indeed the duty to respond to these vicious attacks, just like every other nation in the world.”
Netanyahu describes some of the horrors committed by Hamas terrorists in a recording of the call that the prime minister’s office released on Tuesday. He talks about families being massacred in their homes, women being raped and killed, soldiers being beheaded, and children being burned and killed.
We have never witnessed such brutality in the state’s history. In the video, he said that they were worse than ISIS. They need to be handled as such because they are far worse than ISIS.
According to Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security advisor, “the two leaders spoke in a collaborative fashion, as they always do,” during the call.
Biden “underscored the need for all countries to unequivocally condemn Hamas’s brutal atrocities, which are comparable to the atrocities of ISIS from many years ago,” according to a readout of the call supplied by the White House.
Since Hamas started its surprise offensive over the weekend, it is unclear if Biden will give Netanyahu carte blanche to destroy Hamas using all means necessary or demand that he scale back if civilian casualties mount in Gaza.
According to what Biden said in his address, he reminded Netanyahu that “if the United States experienced what Israel is experiencing, our response would be swift, decisive, and overwhelming.”
We also talked about how following the law makes democracies like Israel and the United States stronger and more secure, he continued. Terrorists deliberately target and murder civilians. The law of war is something that we uphold. It is important.
The proportionality and avoidance of the indiscriminate killing of civilians are mandated by international laws of war.
Presidents of the United States have occasionally exercised restraint. In response to Palestinian rocket fire, Israel bombarded Gaza in 2014. President Barack Obama urged both parties to the crisis “to act with reasonableness and restraint.”
Regarding how Israel conducts the war, Biden is subject to conflicting demands both inside and outside of his party. The United States normally wields considerable influence in Jerusalem as a close supporter of Israel that has donated billions of dollars’ worth of armaments over the years.
Far-right Republicans demand Israel to lead an unrestrained offensive that defeats Hamas and stops similar acts from happening in the future.
Nikki Haley, a Republican running for president and a former U.S. ambassador to the UN, told Fox News, “I’ll say this to Prime Minister Netanyahu: Finish them.”
The treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, however, has drawn criticism from a left-leaning segment of the Democratic Party. Biden has been urged by some liberal House members to stop funding Israel unless greater rights are granted to the Palestinians.
The Democratic representative for Missouri, Cori Bush, stated on social media on Saturday that “we must do our part to stop this violence and trauma by ending U.S. government support for Israeli military occupation and apartheid.”
However, the division is not quite as clear. People close to Biden’s administration are horrified by the terrible attack and the threat to Israel’s sovereignty and want to see Israel launch a reprisal that ensures its safety for years to come.
Former ambassador to Israel under the Biden administration Tom Nides claimed in an interview that despite Hamas’ coexistence with Palestinians, it is indifferent to their suffering.
He asserted that Hamas’ objective is to instigate a regional conflict with Israel. And they don’t care what it will take to create that, including the destruction and death of defenceless Palestinians.