According to the White House, Joe Biden, the President of the United States, expressed his support for a truce to end the escalated conflict between Palestine and Israel in a call with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israelian prime minister officials. The White House further adds that Biden took the strongest stance on the violence that left more than two hundred dead and threatened to destabilize the region.
President Biden continues to walk a fine line in his response to the Middle East crisis. While he did tell Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he supports a ceasefire, he stopped short of demanding an end to the attacks on Gaza.
@Weijia Jiang reports from the White House. pic.twitter.com/k6di0hsdco
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) May 18, 2021
According to a White House data of the call, Netanyahu and Biden discussed American talks with Egypt and other partners to help bring about a truce. The United States designated Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization, so diplomats from the U.S. and other western countries don’t work directly with the Hamas representatives.
The American President reiterated his firm support for the rights of Israel to defend itself against Hamas, the so-called Palestinian militant group. During the telephone call, Biden also encouraged the Israeli Prime Minister to make sure Israel ensures the protection of civilians during its airstrikes into Gaza.
In addition, Joe Biden told Netanyahu that he welcomed all efforts to combat intercommunal violence, following denominational attacks throughout Israel this week that resulted in at least two deaths, according to the reports of Israeli media. The U.S. president come under growing pressure to take a solid stance on the crisis, both by his party and the Republicans.
Source: Web
Republicans Slammed Joe Biden over Hamas Attacks
Ronna McDaniel, the Chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, criticized the Democratic President last week and stated that continuous attacks of Hamas prove that the weak leadership of Biden is reversing the prolonged progress of the Trump administration that it made towards peace in the whole region.
An increasing number of progressive Democrats are speaking up against violent treatment of Israel with the Palestinians and American support for Israel, including Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Yesterday marked the 8th consecutive day of Palestine and Israel trading rockets and airstrikes, according to the health authority of Gaza, and over in four of the victims was a child.
Over fourteen hundred people in Gaza were wounded, and around forty thousand families were displaced because of the Israelian airstrikes. According to Israel, the Hamas rockets killed ten Israelis, including two children. U.S. officials said that the next seventy-two hours would be critical in finding out whether to apply additional pressure to both sides to end the violence.
Hady Amr, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Palestinian and Israeli Affairs, described his mandate during an event of the White House marking the Ramadan ends on Sunday. Amr expected to meet with senior Palestinian and Israeli officials. On the other side, the United States doesn’t engage directly with Hamas because it considers it a terrorist organization.
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