United States: Biden evokes for the first time a possible conditioning of support for Israel
Joe Biden raised for the first time, Thursday April 4, the possibility of conditioning American aid to Israel on “
tangible
” measures on the part of the government of Benyamin Netanyahu to respond to the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. The American president calls on Israel for an immediate “
ceasefire
”.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in this image from the White House, taken in the Oval Office in Washington, U.S., April 4, 2024. © Reuters
By: RFI with AFP | RFI Follow
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The US president
said in a phone call to the
Israeli leader
"
that
Israel
must announce and implement specific, concrete and tangible measures to respond to the suffering of civilians, the humanitarian crisis, and for the safety of aid workers
", according to a brief account of the telephone exchange published by the White House. He also "
indicated that American policy, with regard to Gaza, would be determined by the evaluation he would make of the immediate decisions taken by Israel
" in this sense. The exchange lasted around thirty minutes.
The turnaround comes three days after an Israeli strike killed
foreign aid volunteers
delivering food aid to Gaza, where famine threatens. “
What we expect and hope to see in the hours and days to come is a dramatic increase in humanitarian aid, the opening of new crossing points and a reduction in violence against civilians and certainly humanitarian workers
,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby later told the press. The president was clear, the spokesperson added. Aid will be determined by these changes which are expected in the coming hours and days.
“
Growing discontent
” experienced by Joe Biden
This change in tone from the White House towards Israel is therefore very clear, even if the White House does not go so far as to define these expected changes, nor even to say that they condition aid. American military to Israel in its war in Gaza, reports our correspondent in Miami,
David Thomson
.
Joe Biden, who deemed
Israeli strikes targeting humanitarian workers “
unacceptable ,” also urged Benyamin Netanyahu to “
immediately conclude an agreement
” for an “
immediate ceasefire
” in the Gaza Strip.
On April 2, the American president said he was “
outraged
” after the death on Monday of seven humanitarian volunteers in Gaza, including six foreigners, killed by
an Israeli strike
. This event “
shook
” him, according to John Kirby, who acknowledged that the American president felt “
growing discontent
”, while the Israeli government has so far remained deaf to his calls to act in the face of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza . The United States' support for Israel nevertheless remains “
unshakeable
,” the spokesperson said.
Also listen to The paradox of Biden, who delivers weapons to Israel and criticizes the conduct of the war in Gaza
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