U.S. policy on Gaza will change if Israel fails to protect civilians, Biden warns Netanyahu

U.S. policy on Gaza will change if Israel fails to protect civilians, Biden warns Netanyahu

President Joe Biden yesterday warned Israel Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States policy will change towards Gaza unless Israel immediately takes concrete steps to address the humanitarian crisis.

The comments, which followed an Israeli strike that killed seven aid workers in Gaza, mark the first meaningful shift in rhetoric from the Biden administration since Israel launched its war in Gaza after the October 7 Hamas attacks.

Biden also demanded an immediate ceasefire.

During a phone call between Biden and Netanyahu, the U.S. President: “emphasised that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable,” the White House said in a readout.

“He 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.

“He made clear that US policy concerning Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps,” it added.

Observers remarked on the change of tone for Biden, who is under crushing domestic pressure to stop the bloodshed in Gaza.

Daniel Kurtzer, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Israel from 2001 to 2005 said: “These are different words, different phrases that the President is using, and they’re designed to get Netanyahu’s attention and to institute changes,”

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Kurtzer said the strike on World Central Kitchen, an organisation headed by renowned chef, Jose Andres that helps feed millions around the world, represents a “turning point” in the conflict.

“The organisation itself, which has such credibility, the chef is very well known and the fact that the organisation was feeding both Palestinians in Gaza and Israelis I think was quite important, number one.

“Number two, these vehicles were targeted and it may have been that the mistake was in the targeting. But it wasn’t an accident or incidental fire. That’s what has impacted me.

“We’ve walked up to the question of immediacy, but this is the first time that it is now part of US policy,” Kurtzer explained.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, meanwhile, said that humanitarian conditions in Gaza “are woefully insufficient and unacceptable”

He described Monday’s strike on World Central Kitchen aid workers as “horrific”.

It “was not the first such incident” he added, but “it must be the last. If we lose that reverence for human life, we risk becoming indistinguishable from those we confront.”

Blinken rebuffed accusations that he had not expressed enough outrage in the immediate aftermath of the strike and made clear that he condemned the killing of the aid workers.

At the White House, National Security Council spokesman, John Kirby said Biden and Netanyahu had a “very direct, very businesslike, very professional” call that lasted about 30 minutes.

“What we want to see are some real changes on the Israeli side. If we don’t see changes from their side, there’ll have to be changed from our side, but I won’t predict what that to look like,” Kirby said, noting that the US expects to see changes within “hours and days.”

U.S. policy on Gaza will change if Israel fails to protect civilians, Biden warns Netanyahu