“None. No possibility,” Biden told reporters when asked about the chances of a ceasefire.
He said he was “still optimistic” about freeing hostages — including the fewer than 10 US citizens held in Gaza. “We’re not going to stop until we get them out.”
He later confirmed that in a call with Netanayhu that “I’ve asked for a pause longer than three days”. When asked if he was frustrated with Netanyahu, he said, “it’s taken a little longer than I hoped.”
The United States has firmly stood by key ally Israel since the attacks, saying that Hamas cannot be allowed to remain in control of Gaza.
But Washington has also been publicly calling on the Israeli military to obey the “laws of war” and avoid civilian casualties, while privately pushing Israel to scale back its offensive and to develop a plan for what comes next.
Biden visited Israel in October in a show of support. During the trip he announced that Egypt had agreed to open the Rafah crossing into southern Gaza to let aid trucks in.
Israel has pressed on with its offensive and has encircled northern Gaza in recent days. It said Thursday it had fought a 10-hour battle that toppled one of the Palestinian militants’ strongholds.
Biden has also warned Iran and its ally Hezbollah against widening the conflict, but repeated attacks on US forces by Tehran’s proxies in recent weeks have raised tensions.
Asked why US warplanes had carried out fresh strikes on an Iran-linked weapons facility in eastern Syria on Wednesday, Biden said “because they struck us” and said US forces would strike again “if we have to.”
AFP
