Biden: Killing Aid Workers in Gaza “Unacceptable”
Washington, MINA – US President Joe Biden told Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu that the killing of aid workers in Gaza is “unacceptable,” and warned Thursday that future US support for the war will depend on his counterpart’s implementation of major reforms, Anadolu Agency reports
Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable,” the White House said in a statement about the telephone call.
The comments come after Israel carried out strikes Tuesday on a humanitarian convoy in central Gaza that killed seven aid workers in what the group’s founder called a “direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known by the Israel Defense Forces.”
The White House said Biden “made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers.”
“He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps,” it said.
The White House later declined to specify what steps the president is taking into consideration. But it said the US expects to see Israel take several steps “in the coming hours and days,” including allowing a “dramatic increase in the humanitarian assistance” into Gaza and opening up additional border crossings for aid deliveries.
That is in addition to “a reduction in the violence against civilians and certainly aid workers,” said National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
“We want to we want to see that even as the Israelis work through their investigation that they are willing and able to take practical, immediate steps to protect aid workers on the ground and to demonstrate that they have that civilian harm mitigation in place,” he added about Israel’s internal probe into the strikes Tuesday.
The president further threw his weight behind an immediate cease-fire to halt the violence in the coastal enclave “to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians. He implored Netanyahu “to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home,” it said.
Biden’s urging is the first known time he has directly appealed to Netanyahu for an immediate halt to the violence in Gaza and comes as he faces increasing domestic pressure to call for a truce ahead of November’s presidential election.
Hamas said earlier Thursday that there is still no progress in indirect talks with Israel on a cease-fire deal because Tel Aviv is “intransigent,” and has rejected every proposal that has been put forward. (T/RE1/P2)
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
