A similar message was conveyed by Bidenduring his trip to Israel earlier this month when he also warned the country not to be so consumed by rage that it risks making the same kind of mistakes the US made after September 11.
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“Without getting into reacting to events on the ground in real time,which we’re just not going to do,this is a conversation we consistently had with our Israeli counterparts,” said US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
“That was part of the discussion yesterday with the prime minister[Netanyahu] … about the efforts that they’re undertaking to try to avoid civilian casualties.”
Kirby said the US did “not support a ceasefire at this time”,agreeing with Netanyahu’s view that this would benefit Hamas. However,he added that “temporary localised humanitarian pauses” should be considered,to allow aid to get through to Gaza and potentially help with evacuation of civilians.
The comments came as figures from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry reported Israeli airstrikes and a ground offensive have killed more than 8000 people in Gaza,many of whom have been children.
Israel,meanwhile,says that Hamas militants have killed 1400 people and captured more than 200 since the incursion on October 7.
Within the Democratic Party,some of Biden’s strongest supporters believe that while Hamas should be held accountable for the atrocities,entering yet another costly war could be damaging.
“If America is going to pay for a big portion of the war’s cost,then of course we should care about the war plan,” Connecticut senator Chris Murphy,a key Biden ally,wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “It would not be good to fund a plan that doesn’t work.”
Others,such as Pramila Jayapal,who chairs the congressional progressive caucus,said that while she had been “one of President Biden’s biggest supporters” she feared that his effusive support of Israel could cost him politically.
“The American people are actually quite far away from where the president and even Congress – the majority of Congress – has been on Israel and Gaza,” she said.
“They support the right for Israel to defend itself to exist,but they do not support a war-crime exchange for another war crime.”
Tensions have also escalated across the US,particularly on college campuses which have become major flash points between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel groups.
The latest example played out at Cornell University in New York,where police are investigating menacing antisemitic messages posted online.
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Some threatened sexual violence against Jewish women,while one anonymous user threatened to “shoot up” a Jewish building on the campus.
The Anti-Defamation League,a New York-based Jewish civil rights group,last week reported a nearly 400 per cent spike in antisemitic incidents in the US since an October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
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