WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden has linked future US support for Gaza war with steps to protect civilians and aid workers.
He made the remarks during a phone call with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday.
The conversation took place days after Israeli airstrikes killed seven food aid workers in Gaza. The White House said that Biden asked Israel to announce and implement a series of concrete, specific, and measurable steps to protect civilian harm, ending humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers.
He said that the US policy regarding Gaza will be determined by its assessment of Israel’s immediate action on such matters.
Biden also told Netanyahu that an immediate ceasefire is inevitable and urged Israel to reach a truce without any further delay.
World Central Kitchen seeks independent investigation
The development comes as the World Central Kitchen, whose workers were killed in Israeli strike, called for an independent investigation into the incident.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese denounced the incident terming it a product of war.
Former US President Donald Trump said Israel is absolutely losing war in Gaza while calling for a prompt resolution to the bloodshed.
Meanwhile, three former judges of the Supreme Court have joined more than 600 members of the British legal fraternity in calling for the government to stop arms sales to Israel, saying it could make Britain a complicit in Gaza genocide.
Their call was also supported by two of the country’s leading intelligence experts, who said that Britain must persuade Israel and the US to change their approach in the conflict.
A new diplomatic row between Poland and Israel has also started after the death of a Polish aid worker in Gaza.
Israel’s Ambassador to Poland, Yacov Livne, in a statement said attempts are being made by the extreme right and left in Poland to accuse Israel of intentional murder.
President of Poland Andrzej Duda termed the comment as outrageous saying the ambassador is the biggest problem for the state of Israel in ties with Poland.
