Joe Biden has called for an immediate end to attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank, as Israel continued its attacks on Gaza in preparation for a long-promised ground invasion.
At a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the president said U.S. support for Israel’s defense was unwavering but criticized some Israelis’ treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank.
“I remain concerned that extremist settlers are attacking Palestinians in the West Bank… adding gasoline to the fire is like that.
“They attack Palestinians in places where they [the Palestinians] have the right to do this and… it has to stop now.”
Biden accused Hamas of “hiding behind” Palestinian civilians in Gaza, but said Israel must abide by the “laws of war.”
Israel has been bombarding Gaza since October 7, when armed Hamas militants poured across the border, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 222 others.
More than 6,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, and there are fears the number could rise even further if Israel carries out a widely expected ground invasion.
Biden, however, questioned the civilian casualty figures provided by the Palestinians.
“I have no idea that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are being killed. I am sure innocents have been killed and that is the price of waging war,” he said.
“But I have no confidence in the number the Palestinians are using.”
Palestinians search for survivors in the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli airstrike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Ahmed Zakot/SOPA Images/ShutterstockWith tens of thousands of troops stationed on the Gaza border, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was “raining hellfire” and that a ground offensive was being prepared.
“I cannot say when, how or how many, nor all the elements we are considering, most of which are not known to the public,” he added.
US media has reported that Biden has urged Netanyahu to interrupt a ground invasion while Hamas is still holding hostages, but on Wednesday Biden denied such reports.
“What I told him is that if it is possible to get these people out safely, he should do it. It is your decision …. But I didn’t demand it,” Biden said.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization called on Hamas to provide evidence of the lives of the hostages it is holding and to release them all on health grounds.
“Many of the hostages, including children, women and the elderly, have underlying medical conditions that require urgent and ongoing care and treatment. “The psychological trauma faced by the abductees and their families is acute and psychosocial support is of great importance,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
Israeli military vehicles are stationed near Israel’s border with Lebanon in northern Israel. Photo: Lisi Niesner/PortalThe main UN agency operating in the Gaza Strip warned this week that its aid operations in Gaza would have to stop if fuel shipments do not reach the besieged area.
Hospitals, bakeries and water pumps could also fail, exacerbating a humanitarian crisis that is getting worse by the hour, the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRAW) said. “We have to find a solution for the fuel – otherwise our relief operation will come to a standstill.”
But later on Wednesday, world powers failed at the United Nations to push through plans to provide vital humanitarian aid to Gaza. A US resolution for a “humanitarian pause” to allow aid into the blockaded Gaza Strip without calling for a full ceasefire has been rejected by Russia and China.
Russia’s own proposal for “an immediate, permanent and fully respected humanitarian ceasefire” was rejected by the US and Britain, while nine other countries, including France and Japan, abstained.
With the Security Council deadlocked, the broader U.N. General Assembly is scheduled to debate the war on Thursday and Friday.
In his remarks on Wednesday, Biden emphasized that all parties must consider how to proceed in the region once the Gaza crisis is resolved.
“Israelis and Palestinians alike deserve to live side by side in security, dignity and peace,” Biden said.
“When this crisis is over, there must be a vision for what comes next. And from our perspective it has to be a two-state solution. “It means a concentrated effort from all parties — Israelis, Palestinians, regional partners, global leaders — to put us on the path to peace,” Biden said.
Portal and the Associated Press contributed to this report