US President Joe Biden on Thursday said Israel’s military operation to go after Hamas had been “over the top” as he highlighted the plight of Palestinians who have endured heavy bombardment and a lack of essential supplies.
“I’ve been pushing really hard — really hard — to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza. A lot of innocent people are starving. A lot innocent people in trouble and dying. And it’s got to stop,” Biden said.
Biden also voiced optimism that a deal currently being brokered pairing the release of hostages with a prolonged pause in the fighting could eventually lead to a more sustained change in the war.
His remarks come after a State Department spokesperson said the US would not support an Israeli military operation in Rafah “without serious planning” around the more than a million displaced civilians crammed into the southern Gaza city.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said the military “is preparing to fight in Rafah.”
Here are the latest developments in the region:
- Deadly attack: An Israeli airstrike targeting a room in the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City killed five people on Thursday, journalist Khader Zaanoun, who received his information from health officials in the city.
- Americans detained: Two American citizens were detained by Israeli forces during a raid of a home in Gaza early Thursday, according to a family member in the United States. The family does not know where the men have been taken at this point.
- Aid fears: United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday that it would not be possible to replace the main UN aid agency in Gaza amid Israeli calls for it to be shut down. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is the only agency capable of doing the job, Guterres said.
- US strikes: The US killed or wounded more than 40 militants in its strikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria on February 2, according to the Defense Department. US Central Command is still assessing the complete results of the strikes, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said at a briefing Thursday. Meanwhile, the US military carried out further strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Thursday, US Central Command said.
- Lebanon tensions: An Israeli drone strike on a car in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh on Thursday killed at least three people, Lebanese state media NNA reported. NNA did not give the names of those killed in the strike, but the Israeli military told it had carried out a strike on a Hezbollah commander. Meanwhile, the Israeli Air Force said on Thursday that dozens of its aircraft deployed over Lebanon could “turn into hundreds” ready to operate within minutes from launch in case of war.
Biden says Israel’s Gaza response “has been over the top”
US President Joe Biden late Thursday offered one of his sharpest rebukes to date of Israel’s military conduct in Gaza, saying the operation to go after Hamas had been “over the top.”
He also voiced optimism that a deal currently being brokered pairing the release of hostages with a prolonged pause in the fighting could eventually lead to a more sustained change in the war.
And he painted a stark portrait of the suffering in Gaza, insisting more must be done to stem the humanitarian crisis there.
Delivered at the very end of a fiery evening news conference, Biden’s remarks offered a new window into his view of the four-month conflict, which has tested American diplomacy and exposed divisions within his Democratic coalition.
“I’m of the view, as you know, that the conduct of the response in Gaza – in the Gaza Strip – has been over the top,” Biden told reporters at the White House, describing his own efforts to open up Gaza so more humanitarian aid could flow in.
His assessment of the Israeli military campaign as excessive marked a new stage in Biden’s public posturing on the war. For much of the months since October 7, Biden has embraced Israel and staunchly defended its right to go after Hamas.
