Netanyahu is warned by Biden that Gaza is ‘unacceptable’

The Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, stated during his conversation with the leader of Israel that the United States’ policy will shift if Israel does not take “specific, concrete, and measurable” efforts to alleviate the destruction in Gaza.

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In the event that Israel does not quickly take efforts that are “specific, concrete, and measurable” to remedy the crisis, the president has stated that the United States’ policy will be altered.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, was informed by Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday that the United States would reevaluate its stance regarding the conflict in Gaza if the Jewish state did not take quick action to solve the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the enclave and protect relief workers.
John Kirby, a spokesperson for the White House, stated that “in the coming hours and days, we will be looking for concrete, tangible steps that they are taking.”

The phone discussion between the two leaders took place three days after seven workers from the World Central Kitchen, which is owned by José Andrés, were killed by an Israeli attack on a clearly designated convoy. This strike sparked indignation in the United States as well as in other countries. According to Kirby, the president made the call with Netanyahu precisely because of the devastating strike. He also stated that Biden was “shaken” by the incident.

According to a description of the discussion provided by the White House, Vice President Biden “made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers” during the call that took place on Thursday. “He made it abundantly clear that our evaluation of Israel’s immediate action on these steps will be the determining factor in the United States’ subsequent policy regarding Gaza,”
It was the first time that Vice President Biden has shown a willingness to reevaluate his steadfast support for Israel’s assault in Gaza. This comes at a time when prominent Democrats are increasing the amount of pressure they are putting on Israel to condition the sale of weapons to Israel. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the number of deaths in Gaza has since topped 33,000. However, up until this point, the president had not openly warned Israel of the consequences that would result from its failure to alter its course of action. The president’s rhetoric has become increasingly harsh in relation to Israel’s handling of the problem.

Over the course of the last few decades, this event also represented a rare instance in which the United States of America has hinted that its support for Israel is anything than unconditional.

On Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered a reiteration of the message in Brussels. A close ally of Vice President Joe Biden and a stalwart defender of Israel, Senator Chris Coons (Democrat of Delaware), stated that the United States is “at that point” where restrictions must be placed on the provision of military assistance to Israel.

The shifting dynamics come at a time when Israel is making preparations to attack the city of Rafah, which is located in the southern part of Gaza. There, around 1.5 million Palestinians are currently taking refuge in deteriorating conditions after fleeing there on Israeli orders. A massive campaign in Rafah that would put a large number of people at peril has been cautioned against by officials from the United States of America.

“I would vote to condition aid to Israel,” Coons stated on CNN. “If Benjamin Netanyahu were to order the [Israel Defense Forces] into Rafah at scale… and make no provision for civilians or for humanitarian aid, I would vote to condition aid to Israel.” It’s the first time I’ve ever said that. It’s the first time I’ve ever been here.”

Despite the fact that the White House issued a clear warning, it did not provide any specifics regarding how it would judge whether or not Israel had cooperated with Biden’s demands, or how the United States policy could be altered in the event that the administration determined that Israel had not done so.

Kirby made the following statement: “If we do not see changes from their side, then there will be changes from our side.” On the other hand, I won’t give you a sneak peek at what that might look like. He declined to comment on whether or not the United States government might stop providing Israel with military assistance.

According to Kirby, among of the reforms that Vice President Biden would want to see include “a dramatic increase in humanitarian aid getting in, additional crossings opened up, and a reduction in violence against civilians.” In addition, he stated that the United States of America anticipated that Israel would not merely “announce” reforms, but would also “execute” and “implement” such changes.

At a later time on Thursday, Israel had revealed the first actions it will take to satisfy Biden’s demands. These measures included opening the Ashdod port to allow for direct delivery of aid into Gaza; opening the Erez crossing in Israel to assist in facilitating the delivery of aid into northern Gaza, where law and order have collapsed and aid organizations have warned that famine is already underway; and increasing the amount of aid that is delivered from Jordan.

With a statement that “must now be fully and rapidly implemented,” the White House expressed its approval of the initiatives.Adrienne Watson, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council of the White House, stated in a statement that the United States’ stance regarding Gaza “will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these and other steps.”

The account of the call between Biden and Netanyahu that was provided by the White House stated that Biden had conveyed to Netanyahu that the humanitarian situation in Gaza was “unacceptable” and that he had requested a “immediate ceasefire.”

As a result of Hamas militants storming through the border and killing 1,200 people, including a significant number of civilians, Israel began its military campaign in Gaza. Additionally, 253 individuals were taken prisoner.

Biden urged Netanyahu on Thursday to “empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home,” according to the White House. This suggests that the Israeli leader could be doing more to secure a six-week cease-fire that would result in the release of a significant number of the remaining hostages that were taken by Hamas on October 7. For a number of months, authorities related to Biden have been advocating for the cease-fire.

Over and over again, Vice President Biden and his top advisers have put pressure on Israel to permit more supplies to enter Gaza, minimize the number of civilian casualties, and protect relief workers. However, they have not been willing to take any punitive actions up to this point, despite the fact that Netanyahu has been increasingly rebellious of the requests made by the United States, despite the extraordinary support from the military.

In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, Andrés, a well-known chef and the proprietor of World Central Kitchen, stated that Israel targeted his employees “systematically, car by car.” It was unclear to him how the administration of Vice President Joe Biden could continue to help Israel with armaments while at the same time providing humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

The statement that Kirby made on Thursday was that “our support for Israel’s self-defense remains ironclad.” They are confronted with a variety of dangers, and the United States of America is not going to ignore its obligation to assist Israel in defending itself. With that being said, the president is of the opinion that the way in which they are defending themselves against a threat posed by Hamas needs to be altered, and he continues to hold this belief.

As a result of Israel’s foray into Gaza, a humanitarian crisis has occurred, as the United Nations reports that hundreds of children have perished as a result of hunger and starvation. It has been reported by authorities from the United States and aid organizations that more than eighty percent of Gaza’s population has been forced to relocate, and the entire population is currently experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity.

The battle has resulted in the deaths of over 200 humanitarian relief workers, the majority of whom are Palestinians. According to a senior official from the United Nations, this number is roughly three times higher than the death toll recorded in any other conflict in a single year. The president has been moved to use substantially more forceful rhetoric than he has in the past throughout the six-month battle. Biden is close to Andrés, whom he refers to as a “friend,” and the slaughter of the workers at World Central Kitchen has prompted him to do so.

Despite the support of Vice President Joe Biden, Netanyahu has disobeyed the United States on a number of significant matters. The requests that Vice President Biden made for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, his demands that additional aid be let into Gaza, and his warnings against a full-scale operation in Rafah have all been rejected or ignored by the Prime Minister.

Kirby stated that the challenges of humanitarian aid and the impending invasion of Rafah are tied together in a way that cannot be separated.

“Today’s call was really focused on humanitarian assistance, civilian casualties, and that includes workers in the humanitarian aid sector,” Kirby added. However, “you can’t talk about Rafah and the possibility of operations going after those Hamas battalions in Rafah without also talking about the humanitarian situation down there, which is dire,” as the saying goes.