Conflicting messages from Washington.
US President Joe Biden expressed Monday in an exchange with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu his "support" for a ceasefire in the face of escalating violence, the White House said.
But at the same time, the United States opposed, for the third time in a week, the adoption of a UN Security Council declaration calling for "an end to violence" between Israelis and Palestinians. .
"The president has expressed his support for a ceasefire," said the White House in a very cautious report, at a time when many voices are raised in the Democratic camp for Joe Biden to explicitly demand an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.
During this telephone conversation, he referred to the ongoing discussions with Egypt "and other partners" to achieve this, the text said.
Israeli bombardments on the Gaza Strip resumed on Monday, at the end of a black week that left 200 people dead in the Palestinian enclave, with no prospect of a truce between Israel and the Hamas movement, which continues to fire rockets.
More than 200 dead in Gaza in one week
Asked during her daily press briefing on what some in the Democratic camp believe to be a lack of firmness vis-à-vis Israel, Jen Psaki, the spokeswoman for the White House, defended the "discreet" diplomatic approach but Washington's "intensive" on this issue. If Joe Biden reaffirmed "the right of Israel to defend itself", he also, during this exchange, "encouraged" the Hebrew state to "make all possible efforts to ensure the protection of innocent civilians", further affirms the feedback.
At the UN Security Council, a text drafted by China, Tunisia and Norway, which called for “an end to violence” between Israelis and Palestinians, was handed over to the 15 members of the Security Council on Sunday evening for approval. Monday. The United States has indicated that it "could not support at the moment an expression" of the Security Council, told AFP a diplomat. According to other sources, Mexico and the United Kingdom have proposed amendments to the text without however opposing adoption.
On its Twitter account, the Norwegian diplomatic mission announced that a new urgent meeting of the Security Council, behind closed doors, would be held at midday on Tuesday.
“The situation on the ground continues to deteriorate.
Innocent civilians continue to be killed and injured.
We repeat: cease fire.
End hostilities now, ”his message read.
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