Biden warned the Israeli Prime Minister for the first time： protect civilians, or the US policy will change.

Original Liu Chenghui Observer Network The humanitarian tragedy in Gaza is increasing the international pressure faced by the United States and Israel.

On April 4th, local time, US President Biden warned in a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the US policy on Gaza will depend on the measures taken by Israel to protect civilians. Blinken, the US Secretary of State, later said in Brussels that the Biden administration would change its policy if Israel failed to make the changes that the United States needed to see.

The US media said that this call shows that the United States has adopted a more confrontational attitude towards Israel. This is also the first time that the Biden administration has sought to use American aid to influence Israel’s military behavior, or it will have an impact on the Palestinian-Israeli war situation.

However, the other side of Biden’s government, which frequently verbally pressured Israel, did not give up its military aid to Israel. A few days ago, the United States approved a new batch of military aid to Israel containing thousands of bombs. According to sources, this aid was just completed a few hours after the attack on the personnel of the international charity "World Central Kitchen".

In October 2023, the heads of state of the United States and Israel met in Tel Aviv/White House X account.

According to a report by Reuters and CNN)4 on April 4th, the conversation between Biden and Netanyahu lasted about 30 minutes, which was the first communication between the two sides after the staff of "World Central Kitchen" was killed by Israeli air strikes. The Israeli air raid on the organization on April 1 caused all seven international volunteers to die, which once caused indignation in many western countries such as the United States, Britain and Australia.

The White House said in a phone call that Biden stressed to Israeli leaders on the phone that "attacks on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable". Biden made it clear that "Israel needs to announce and implement a series of concrete, practical and measurable steps to deal with civilian injuries, humanitarian suffering and the safety of aid workers". Biden also stressed that the United States will assess the situation that Israel "takes immediate action according to these measures" and formulate policies related to Gaza according to the assessment results.

At the briefing after the call, White House National Security Council spokesman Kirby declined to elaborate on any specific changes in US policy toward Israel and Gaza.

When asked whether the United States would cut off its military aid to Israel, Kirby told reporters: "I will not foretell the decisions that have not yet been made, but there are some things that need to be done. Too many civilians have been killed. " He only said that Biden was "shocked" by the killing of personnel of international aid organizations, and the conversation between the two heads of state was "very direct, pragmatic and professional". Washington hopes to see Israel announce measures in "the next few hours and days".

At the same time, Blinken, who is visiting Europe, made a speech in Brussels. He told reporters that "if we don’t see the changes we need to see, the US policy will change". But like Kirby, he didn’t elaborate on what the change was.

The Wall Street Journal reported on the 4th that the White House’s statement meant Biden took a more confrontational attitude towards Netanyahu, and hinted for the first time that the White House might reassess its aid and political support to Israel in the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Agence France-Presse reported that this is the first time that the President of the United States has hinted that the United States will attach conditions to its policy of continuing to support Israel. This call also shows that Biden, who is preparing to run for re-election, has changed his consistent policy of unconditionally supporting Israel under the strong political pressure from the United States and his own political party.

On April 2, people gathered around the wreckage of a car used in the "World Central Kitchen" Image source: vision china.

It is worth noting that although Biden’s government has recently reported news of pressure on Israel, it has not cut off its military assistance to Israel.

On April 4, CNN)4 quoted three people familiar with the matter as saying that the US government recently authorized the transfer of more than 2,000 bombs to Israel, and the transaction was completed several hours after the news of the attack on the staff of the "World Central Kitchen". Kirby responded on the 4th that the authorization for the transfer of more than 2,000 ammunition was carried out before Israel attacked international aid organizations on the 1st. At the press conference on the 3rd, he reiterated that the United States will continue to support Israel, "because they still face real threats, so they continue to need military assistance".

In addition to the above-mentioned aid ammunition, Reuters quoted five sources as saying on the 2nd that Biden’s government is considering whether to continue to provide Israel with an arms aid program worth $18 billion, including dozens of F-15 fighters. According to sources, the United States received an official request from Israel in January last year, but the sale of 25 F-15s has been under review. In the latest plan, the number of F-15s has increased to more than 50.

On April 4th, local time, the health department in Gaza issued a statement saying that in the past 24 hours, the Israeli army carried out six military operations in the Gaza, resulting in 62 deaths and 91 injuries. Since the outbreak of a new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict on October 7 last year, Israeli military operations in the Gaza have killed 33,037 Palestinians and injured 75,668 others. The Israeli side previously claimed that 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 were detained by Hamas.

At present, a new round of Palestinian-Israeli ceasefire talks was held in Cairo, Egypt on March 31st. On April 4th, Usama Hamdan, a senior official of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), said that there was "no progress" in the ceasefire negotiations in the Gaza Strip.

Hamdan said that although Hamas has made positive concessions to achieve a ceasefire, the Israeli side’s position is still stubborn and the negotiations are coming to a standstill. Hamdan also accused Netanyahu of setting obstacles to reaching an agreement and showing "false interest" in continuing negotiations.

Source | Observer Network

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Original title: "Biden first warned the Prime Minister: Protect civilians, or the US policy will change."

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