WASHINGTON – President Biden said Tuesday that international humanitarian aid meant for Palestinian civilians is arriving too slowly as Israel and the Hamas terrorist group battle in the densely populated Gaza Strip.
“Not fast enough,” Biden said in response to questions about aid delivery as he left a scientific awards ceremony at the White House.
The 80-year-old president said last week he had convinced Egyptian officials to open the long-closed Rafah border crossing to food and medicine – after Israel closed the crossing following Hamas’ slaughter of more than 1,400 people in an October 7 attack on southern Israel.
A convoy of 20 trucks entered Gaza on Saturday after Egyptian officials repaved roads.
Biden last week pledged $100 million in US aid to Palestinians affected by the crisis in the West Bank and Hamas-ruled Gaza and separately asked Congress to approve $14.3 billion in aid for Israel, including offensive and defensive military equipment.
President Biden said Tuesday that international humanitarian aid meant for Palestinian civilians is arriving too slowly.AP
The Biden administration has reportedly pressed Israel to delay a ground offensive expected to remove Hamas from power in Gaza to allow more negotiations to free more than 200 people believed to have been held hostage.
Follow The Post’s coverage of Israel’s war with Hamas
The White House refused to confirm publicly that it had asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to suspend the invasion as the Israeli military pounded Gaza with airstrikes and Hamas continued to fire rockets into the Jewish state.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday that the US rejected calls for a ceasefire in the conflict, which had been supported by a handful of far-left House Democrats.
“The current ceasefire only benefits Hamas,” Kirby said at a regular White House briefing.
The 80-year-old president said last week that he had convinced Egyptian officials to open the long-closed Rafah border crossing for food and medicine.REUTERS
Hamas on Friday released two US citizens kidnapped during the October 7 attacks and the terrorist group is believed to be holding up to 10 other Americans. On Monday, it released two elderly Israelis.
Although Biden publicly supports Israel as it pledges to destroy Hamas, he said Monday that he told Pope Francis the US “game plan” during Sunday’s call and that “the pope as a whole supports what we’re doing.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday at the United Nations that Israel must move carefully in Gaza, which has a population of about 2 million.
The Biden administration has reportedly pressured Israel to delay an expected ground offensive to remove Hamas from power in Gaza.KHALED ELFIQI/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Civilians reported dead in Gaza include some Palestinian Christian cousins of former Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), who said they were sheltering in a church complex that partially collapsed following an Israeli airstrike nearby.
“At the heart of our efforts to save innocent lives in this conflict, and in every conflict, for that matter, is our core belief that every civilian life is equally precious,” Blinken said. “There is no hierarchy in protecting the lives of civilians. A civilian is a civilian is a civilian, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, age, gender, belief.”
Blinken is also proud of the amount of US aid to the Palestinians, much of which was halted under former President Donald Trump but resumed in 2021 by Biden.
“The United States has provided an additional $100 million in humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, bringing the total aid we have provided to the Palestinian people over the past two and a half years to more than $1.6 billion,” Blinken said. . “That makes the United States the largest single country donor by far to the Palestinian people.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
