According to a report, President Biden privately urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to minimize civilian casualties as the Jewish state wages war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
The 80-year-old president’s request came during a phone call with Netanyahu on Tuesday and was Biden’s most direct message to the Israeli prime minister on the issue of possible civilian deaths, according to NBC News.
Biden stopped short of publicly making the same request during his remarks Tuesday after his call with Netanyahu.
“I just got off the phone on my third call with Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Biden said. “And I told him that if the United States experienced what Israel is experiencing, our response would be swift, decisive and overwhelming.”
“Terrorists deliberately attack civilians and kill them. We defend the laws of war, the laws of war. It matters. “There is a difference,” Biden said on Tuesday.Getty Images
“We also discussed how democracies like Israel and the United States are stronger and safer when we act in accordance with the rule of law,” he added, suggesting that the Israel Defense Forces should avoid attacks that could lead to civilian deaths.
“Terrorists deliberately attack civilians and kill them. We defend the laws of war, the laws of war. It matters. There is a difference,” he said.
Netanyahu and Biden spoke by phone on Tuesday.AP
Hamas terrorists massacred more than 1,000 Israeli civilians and troops during an incursion into the country on Saturday morning.
According to Biden, approximately 150 hostages, including Americans, were taken by Hamas and rushed across the border into Gaza.
Biden’s apparent call for restraint comes as several far-left members of the Democratic Party have criticized Israel’s response to the unprecedented attack by Hamas.
“Human rights violations do not justify further human rights violations, and a military response will only exacerbate the suffering of Palestinians and Israelis alike,” said Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), a member of the liberal “Squad.” of congressional lawmakers, tweeted Saturday.
“We must do our part to stop this violence and trauma by ending the US government’s support for the Israeli military occupation and apartheid,” he added.
More than 1,000 civilians were killed by Hamas terrorists in Israel over the weekend.Getty Images
Another member of the squad, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), on Monday urged the Biden administration to shift from giving Israel “unconditional arms sales and military aid” to diplomacy, and suggested that Israel’s plan to Destroying Hamas could be a “war.” crime.”
“The Israeli Defense Minister has called Palestinians ‘human animals’ and promised to cut off all electricity, all food and all fuel to civilians in Gaza,” Omar wrote in a long thread on X, formerly Twitter.
“This is collective punishment, a war crime, and the United States should oppose any violation of international law if we truly support a rules-based international order,” he continued.
Israel’s cabinet declared war for the first time in 50 years and launched airstrikes on Gaza ahead of an expected ground attack.
The first shipment of American “advanced munitions” arrived in Israel on Tuesday aboard an American plane, according to the IDF.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that the United States “has increased munitions and interceptors to [Israel’s] Iron Dome missile defense system” by order of Biden.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn