In Tel Aviv, Biden reassures Israel, addresses Palestinian suffering
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TEL AVIV – US President Joe Biden, wrapping up a rapid trip to Israel on Wednesday to offer assurances following a deadly attack by Hamas, said the United States would do everything it could to ensure the country was safe.
Mr Biden urged Israelis not to be consumed by rage and said the vast majority of Palestinians are not affiliated with Hamas.
The Palestinian people are suffering as well, he said.
In remarks after meeting Israeli leaders, Mr Biden said he would ask Congress for an “unprecedented” aid package this week.
The President made reference to the Nazi Holocaust of World War II when saying that Israel had the backing of its friends.
“We will not stand by and do nothing again. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever,” he said.
The US has urged Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it will not allow humanitarian supplies into Gaza from the Israeli side of the border but will not block aid coming from Egypt.
“In light of President (Joseph) Biden’s demand, Israel will not thwart humanitarian supplies from Egypt as long as it is only food, water and medicine for the civilian population in the southern Gaza Strip,” it said in a statement.
“Israel will not allow any humanitarian aid from its territory to the Gaza Strip as long as our hostages are not returned,” it added.
Earlier, Mr Biden said he had asked Mr Netanyahu tough questions during their meeting on Wednesday in Tel Aviv, where they also discussed humanitarian needs, security assistance and information on unaccounted Americans.
“I asked tough questions as a friend of Israel. We will continue to deter any actor wanting to widen this conflict.” Mr Biden said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The latest escalation in violence follows a Hamas attack in southern Israel on Oct 7
Gunmen from the militant group killed some 1,400 Israelis during the rampage.
In response, Israel launched a military operation in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas. The country has vowed to annihilate the militant group.
Israel’s aerial bombardment of the enclave has killed at least 3,300 people so far.
On Tuesday, an explosion occurred at a Gaza hospital which Palestinian authorities said killed around 500 people.
Israel and Hamas have traded blame for the incident.
During his visit, Mr Biden sided with Israel and said militants were responsible for the blast on the hospital.
“I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion of the hospital in Gaza yesterday, and based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,” Mr Biden said while speaking alongside Mr Netanyahu.
In the US, the Biden administration issued sanctions aimed at disrupting Hamas’ funding, targeting what it said was “a secret Hamas investment portfolio”, a financial facilitator tied to Iran and a Gaza-based virtual currency exchange, among others.
The sanctions, imposed under a terrorism-related executive order, targeted nine individuals and one entity based in Gaza and elsewhere including Sudan, Turkey, Algeria, and Qatar, the US Department of Treasury said in a statement.
“The United States is taking swift and decisive action to target Hamas’s financiers and facilitators following its brutal and unconscionable massacre of Israeli civilians, including children,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.
“We will continue to take all steps necessary to deny Hamas terrorists the ability to raise and use funds to carry out atrocities and terrorize the people of Israel,” Dr Yellen added.
Prior to the sanctions announcement, Hamas said in a statement that the US was “blindly biased to Israel”.
During their meeting, Mr Netanyahu told Mr Biden Israel would try to avoid civilian casualties in its war on Hamas in Gaza, which he described as challenging due to the tactics of the militant group.
“This will be a different kind of war because Hamas is a different kind of enemy,” Mr Netanyahu said in televised remarks. “As we proceed in this war, Israel will do everything it can to keep civilians out of harm’s way.”
Mr Biden’s trip is aimed at reinforcing the US commitment to Israel and prevent its war with Hamas
But after the hospital blast, Jordan cancelled the second half of Mr Biden’s itinerary: a planned summit in Amman with the leaders of Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority.
Mr Biden is under intense pressure to win a clear Israeli commitment to alleviate the plight of civilians in the Gaza Strip, where 2.3 million Palestinians are under total siege, with no access to food, fuel, water or medical supplies
