Israel Welcomes Biden Plan to Increase Gaza Aid
President Joe Biden says the U.S. has plans to help solve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The president said he is directing the U.S. military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters. No U.S. boots will be on the ground. This temporary pier would enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day.
Israeli officials said they welcomed the initiative, and Israel will do whatever is necessary to help the U.S. Israeli officials also were pleased by the president’s remarks that the current crisis began with the massacre of 1,200 people – in what was the deadliest day since the Holocaust.
But Israelis were less happy about the president’s insistence that Israel must change its policy on Gaza.
The president said Israel must also do its part. Israel must allow more aid into Gaza and ensure that humanitarian workers aren’t caught in the crossfire. Biden underscored that humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip — protecting and saving innocent lives must be a priority. He said the only real solution is a two-state solution.
Israel has rejected the two-state solution, saying it would compromise Israel’s security, and Israel says it must be responsible for security in Gaza.
Nimord Novik of the Israel Policy Institute says Palestinians are worried that Israel intends a long occupation of Gaza.
“They are very much concerned about it," said Novik. "They believe that an open-ended Israeli occupation of Gaza is a prescription for perpetual violence. They believe that will affect stability on the West Bank and may go even beyond that. So, the next disaster is predicted unless Israel changes course in a substantial way.”
Just a few hours before President Biden’s speech, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his intention to continue the war even into Rafah, the city on the border with Egypt where more than a million Palestinians have fled fighting.
"We will continue until total victory," Netanyahu told new army officers. “And that includes Rafah.”
Israel asserts that Hamas leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, are hiding in tunnels below Rafah, perhaps surrounded by some of the hostages still in Gaza.
The U.S. has been trying to mediate a cease-fire and had hoped to do so before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins next week, but that now seems unlikely.