By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – U.S. President Joe Biden has urged the leaders of Egypt and Qatar to pressure Hamas to agree to a Gaza ceasefire while also questioning Israel’s tactics amid a rising death toll.
Additionally, Biden said Hamas should free its hostages as part of a deal to be discussed this weekend in Cairo, Egypt.
His comments came after he warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that future U.S. support for Israel’s Gaza war depends on fast new steps to protect civilians and aid workers.
Biden and Netanyahu‘s roughly 30-minute call followed Israeli airstrikes, killing seven food aid workers in Gaza. The tone of their conversation underscored a change in the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war efforts.
It was the first time the U.S. leader threatened to rethink his backing if Israel didn’t change its tactics and allow much more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The White House would not specify what could change about U.S. policy, but commentators said it could alter military sales to Israel.
Measures were also expected to include reducing America’s diplomatic backup for Israel on the world stage.
UN RESOLUTION
The U.S. already declined to veto a recent United Nations Security Council Resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Amid the political wrangling, Bill Burns, the director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, was to lead the American delegation to the Cairo talks on a Gaza Ceasefire, Worthy News monitored
Biden reportedly wrote letters to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and urged them “to secure commitments from Hamas to agree and abide by a deal.”
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby also said Biden told Netanyahu “to empower” his negotiators in Cairo that a deal can be reached quickly.
The United States and its allies view a ceasefire as essential to allow more humanitarian aid to get into Gaza amid fears of famine among the Palestinians there.
Under the most recent proposal, Israel and Hamas would agree to a six-week ceasefire in exchange for the release of sick, elderly, and wounded hostages held by Hamas. Yet progress on a deal has been stalled for weeks.
The Hamas-run health ministry says more than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its war against Hamas nearly six months ago, but those figures have been difficult to verify independently.
The ministry does not differentiate between combatants and civilians. Israel says it killed at least some “13,000 Hamas terrorists” since launching its military operations in Gaza. The battle was triggered by Hamas killing some 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapping about 253 others on October 7, Israeli officials said.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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