The president, in a phone call, said that the overall humanitarian situation in Gaza was “unacceptable.”
President Joe Biden on Thursday spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time since an airstrike killed seven humanitarian aid workers in Gaza.
During the call, the White House said Biden warned that U.S. policy toward the crisis will be determined by Israel’s immediate efforts to address civilian harm and the security of aid workers.
“President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable,” a White House readout of the call said. “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. He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.”
This doesn’t create material changes, and I’m doubtful that it actually will, but the silver lining is that this is a pretty big change geopolitically. Just saying “get your fucking act together or we’re going to reconsider aid” is significant.
Course, it would be a lot more significant if it was followed up by action, and I hope that it is.