The hour-long interview was recorded last Wednesday, just days after the killing of seven aid workers in an Israeli airstrike that Biden described as “outrageous.”
US President Joe Biden has said he does not agree with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to Gaza, calling it “a mistake.”
“I think what he’s doing is a mistake. I don’t agree with his approach,” Biden told a US Spanish-language TV network Univision when asked about Netanyahu’s handling of the war, in an interview aired on Tuesday.
Biden said there was “no excuse” for humanitarian aid not being allowed into the besieged enclave.
“What I’m calling for is for the Israelis to just call for a ceasefire, allow for the next six, eight weeks total access to all food and medicine going into the country,” he stated.
Biden interview with Spanish language network Univision regarding an Israeli unilateral ceasefire. I translated it from Spanish to English.
Now that we are talking about world leaders. In the past few days, we've seen increasing protests in Israel calling for the removal of… pic.twitter.com/5exXdR2ylq
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) April 10, 2024
He reportedly noted that he had “spoken with everyone from the Saudis to the Jordanians to the Egyptians,” and that they were “prepared to move this food in.”
“And I think there’s no excuse to not provide for the medical and the food needs of those people. It should be done now.”
‘Unacceptable’ Situation
The hour-long interview was recorded last Wednesday, just days after the killing of seven aid workers in an Israeli airstrike that Biden described as “outrageous.”
“I think it’s outrageous that those four, three vehicles were hit by drones and taken out on a highway where it wasn’t like it was along the shore, it wasn’t like there was a convoy moving there,” he said.
In a telephone call with Netanyahu on Thursday, Biden “emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable,” according to a statement from the White House.
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“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,” the statement added.
The US president also “made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.”
Biden’s Ratings Drop
Surveys conducted exclusively for Newsweek by Redfield & Wilton Strategies have indicated a growing dissatisfaction among US voters with Biden’s handling of the Gaza crisis.
The initial survey of 1,500 eligible US voters, conducted on October 29, showed a slight overall approval rating for Biden’s handling of the Israel situation, with a 2.53 percent margin of error.
However, subsequent polls in December revealed a slight increase in approval, with 39 percent of respondents supporting Biden’s actions.
‘Temperature High’ ahead of Biden, Netanyahu Call Following Aid Workers’ Deaths
Over 33,300 Killed
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 33,360 Palestinians have been killed, and 75,993 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in the enclave.
Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
