President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that future U.S. aid to Israel's war in Gaza depends on swift implementation of new measures to protect civilians and aid workers. He issued a stern warning.
The nearly 30-minute phone conversation between Mr. Biden and Mr. Netanyahu added a new complication to their increasingly tense relations, days after an Israeli airstrike killed seven food aid workers in the Gaza Strip.
Biden's message marks a sharp shift in the administration's unwavering support for Israel's war effort, with U.S. leaders warning that if Israel changes tactics and does not allow significant humanitarian aid to Gaza, For the first time, he threatened to reconsider his support.
The White House has not said what might change about U.S. policy, but it could include military sales to Israel or changes to U.S. diplomatic backup on the world stage.
Administration officials said they expected the Israeli side to announce next steps within hours or days, after which the U.S. would assess whether Israel's move is far enough along.
President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (AP)
In a statement after the summit, the White House said that Mr. We have made it clear that there is a need to announce and implement the measures.” phone.
“He made clear that U.S. policy on Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel's immediate action on these measures.”
Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that an “immediate ceasefire is essential” and urged Israel to reach such an agreement “without delay,” the White House said. He said the talks were “direct” and “honest.”
There was no immediate response to the call from the Israeli government.
The leaders' conversation came after World Central Kitchen, founded by restaurateur Jose Andres to provide immediate food relief to disaster-stricken areas, spoke out about the Israeli airstrike that killed the organization's staff, including an American citizen. This was carried out amid calls for an investigation.
The White House says it has no plans to conduct an independent investigation, even as it urges Israel to redouble its efforts to prevent harm to innocent civilians and aid workers as the U.S. conducts operations in Gaza. .
Separately, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Brussels that U.S. aid would be cut if Israel did not make significant adjustments to how it waged the war.
“If we don't see the changes we need to see, our policies will change,” he said.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby not only reiterated his long-standing demand to allow additional aid to flow into Gaza, but also reiterated his call for “concrete” changes for the Israeli side to take.
“If there's no change in their approach, we're going to have to change ours,” Kirby said.
“We have work to do. Too many civilians are being killed.”
Demands for Israel to quickly end the conflict are growing across the political spectrum, with former President Donald Trump, the leading Republican candidate to run against Biden this fall, saying Israel is “absolutely losing the public relations war.” '' and called for the following demands: Bloody resolution.
“Let's just end this and get back to peace and stop killing people. That's a very simple statement,” Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
“They have to get it done.
“Let's end this quickly, let it end quickly. We have to get back to normalcy and peace.”
The two leaders also discussed Iran's threat to Israel, Kirby said.
Earlier this week, Iranian leaders vowed to fight back after an airstrike blamed on Israel destroyed the Iranian consulate in Syria and killed 12 people, including two of Iran's elite generals.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said the attack “will not be left unanswered.”
Biden also launched an operation in the southern city of Rafah, home to about 1.5 million displaced Palestinians, as Israel seeks to eliminate Hamas following a deadly attack by the extremist group on October 7. They also renewed concerns about Mr. Netanyahu's plans to carry out a
Vice President Kamala Harris, Mr. Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also participated in the call.
Still, the Biden administration is rapidly moving forward with arms transfers and deliveries to Israel, many of which were approved years ago but have only been partially implemented or not implemented at all.
Just this Monday, the Democratic administration's “daily list” of military transfers included the sale to Israel of more than 1,000 500-pound bombs and more than 1,000 1,000-pound bombs.
Officials said the moves were approved before the list was published on Monday, the day an Israeli airstrike hit a World Central Kitchen support convoy in the Gaza Strip, killing seven group employees. , which was below the standard for the new parliamentary notification.
Smoke rises into the sky after explosion in Gaza Strip (Leo Correa/Associated Press)
He also pointed out that the bomb would not be delivered to Israel until 2025.
Israel has accepted responsibility for the strike but said the convoy was not targeted and the workers' deaths were unintentional.
The country continues to investigate the circumstances of the murder.
Andres harshly criticized the Israeli military for the attack, and his organization suspended its operations in Gaza.
“The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing.
“We need to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon,” he wrote to X.
“No more innocent lives will be lost.”
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 hostages.
Experts say Israel's military operation in Gaza is one of the deadliest and most destructive in recent history.
According to the researchers, this attack was already within two months of the destruction of Aleppo in Syria between 2012 and 2016, Mariupol in Ukraine, or a proportionate German airstrike by Allied forces during World War II. It is said to have caused even greater destruction.
It killed more civilians than the U.S.-led coalition killed in its three-year campaign against Islamic State.