Biden tells Netanyahu US support in Gaza depends on civilian protection
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President Joe Biden told Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, April 4, that future US support for the Gaza in war depends on new steps to protect civilians and aid workers. Biden and Netanyahu spoke by phone days after Israeli airstrikes killed seven food aid workers in Gaza and added a new layer of complication in the leaders’ increasingly strained relationship.
“He 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,” the White House said in a statement following the leaders’ call . “He made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.”
Biden’s tougher tone in the call reflected mounting “frustration” that Israel is not heeding demands to protect civilians, the White House said. “Yes, there’s been growing frustration,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters when asked in a press conference whether the call reflected Biden’s frustration that Netanyahu was not responding to requests from Washington.
The White House called on Israel to allow a “dramatic” increase of aid into Gaza within “hours or days,” after Biden and Netanyahu had spoken. “What we are looking to see and hope to see here in the coming hours and days is a dramatic increase in the humanitarian assistance getting in, additional crossings opened up, and a reduction in the violence against civilians and certainly aid workers,” Kirby said . Kirby added that the United States’s “support for Israel’s self-defense remains ironclad. They face a range of threats, and the United States isn’t going to walk away.”
The leaders’ conversation comes as World Central Kitchen, founded by restauranteur José Andrés to provide immediate food relief to disaster-stricken areas, called for an independent investigation into the Israeli strikes that killed the group’s staff members, including an American citizen.
The White House has said the US has no plans to conduct its own investigation even as they called on Israel to do more to prevent the killing and wounding of innocent civilians and aid workers as it carries out its operations in Gaza.
Ongoing arms deliveries
Separately, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Brussels that US support would be curtailed if Israel doesn’t make significant adjustments to how it’s carrying out the war. ‘If we don’t see the changes that we need to see, there will be changes in our policy,’ he said.
Biden was also expected to reiterate his concerns about Netanyahu’s plan to carry out an operation in the southern city of Rafah, where about 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, as Israel looks to eliminate Hamas following the militant group’s deadly October 7 attack. Vice President Kamala Harris also joined the call.
Despite the growing divisions, the Biden administration has proceeded with arms transfers and deliveries to Israel, many of which were approved years ago but had only been partially or not at all fulfilled. Just this week, on Monday, the Democratic administration’s “Daily List” of munitions transfers included the sale to Israel of more than 1,000 500-pound (225-kilogram) bombs and more than 1,000 1,000-pound (450-kilogram) bombs.
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Officials said those transfers had been approved before the publication of the list on Monday – the day Israeli airstrikes hit a World Central Kitchen aid convoy in Gaza, seven of the group’s employees killing – and that they fell below the threshold for new congressional notification. Also, they noted that the bombs are not for delivery to Israel until 2025. Israel has acknowledged responsibility for the strikes but said the convoy was not targeted and the workers’ deaths were not intentional.
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