A furious President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that airstrikes that killed seven aid workers were “unacceptable” and demanded he push for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Biden, 81, upped the ante in the hour-long phone call Thursday, warning Bibi that Israel could lose American support if civilians continued to be injured and killed. The White House said he wants changes in “hours and days.”
The US president has faced increasing pressure to be tougher on Netanyahu after the strike that killed seven food aid workers, including a dual US-Canadian citizen earlier this week.
Thursday’s call is a turning point as Biden says the situation in Gaza cannot continue like this.
President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers; above Biden and Netanyahu in Israel in October
“President Biden emphasized that attacks on aid workers and the broader humanitarian situation are unacceptable,” the White House said in a readout of the conversation.
‘He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete and measurable measures to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering and the safety of humanitarian workers. He made it clear that American policy toward Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these measures.’
Biden has been under pressure at home and abroad to do more to ensure civilian security in Gaza. And he has faced criticism for being angry behind the scenes but not expressing it publicly.
Even first lady Jill Biden has encouraged the president to end the bloodshed, telling him: “Enough, stop it now.”
The president shared his wife’s choice on war at an event with Muslim leaders, the New York Times reported.
In his call on Thursday, Biden also urged Netanyahu for an immediate ceasefire.
“He stressed that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and urged the Prime Minister to empower his negotiators to conclude without delay an agreement to bring the hostages home,” the statement said. White House in its read.
The White House declined to say what specific steps they wanted to see, but made clear they want to see them soon, within “hours and days.”
“There have to be tangible steps, let’s see what they (the Israelis) announce, let’s see what they do,” said White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
“We expect there to be some announcements coming from Israel in the coming hours and days.”
He described Biden as “shocked” by the attack.
“We are seeking concrete measures to alleviate humanitarian suffering in Gaza,” he said. “If there are no changes in their policy and approaches, then there will have to be changes in ours.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoed Biden’s message.
‘Regarding our policy in Gaza, look, I’ll just say this; If we do not see the changes we need, there will be a change in our policy,” she said during a press conference in Brussels, where he is participating in a NATO meeting.
Leaders around the world were outraged when World Central Kitchen aid workers were killed in an Israeli drone strike.
A vehicle where World Central Kitchen workers were attacked in Gaza
Biden was reportedly “upset” with the prime minister and progressive lawmakers are pressuring the president to cut aid to Israel.
The Biden administration is reportedly currently weighing an $18 billion arms transfer package to Israel that would include dozens of F-15 aircraft.
But Barack Obama’s former advisers expressed displeasure Wednesday with details that Biden was privately angry behind the scenes rather than expressing it publicly.
“The president gets no credit for being ‘privately enraged’ when he still refuses to use his influence to stop the IDF from killing and starving innocent people,” former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau wrote in X ‘These stories just make him look weak.’
“I’m glad US officials are outraged by the IDF’s massacre of World Central Kitchen workers (at least in the background), but there have to be consequences for it to matter,” said former national security spokesman Tommy Vietor. wrote at X. ‘Let’s demand accountability and more aid trucks to Gaza. Stop transferring weapons.
And in key battleground states in the 2024 election, Biden has faced protest votes in the Democratic primaries from progressives angry over his Gaza policy.
Israel is investigating the drone strike that killed World Central Kitchen workers delivering food to starving Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The latest face-to-face between the two leaders comes as relations between Washington and Tel Aviv are deteriorating over American fury that it is not doing enough to help civilians and Palestinian refugees.
Biden and Netanyahu last spoke on March 18, but this was their first conversation since the strike.
Meanwhile, celebrity chef José Andrés told Reuters in an emotional interview on Wednesday that his aid workers were tagged “systematically, car by car.”
He said his charity had clear communication with the Israeli military, which he said was aware of the movements of its aid workers.
“This wasn’t just a bad luck situation where ‘oops’ we dropped the bomb in the wrong place,” Andres said.
“This was over 1.5 or 1.8 kilometers, with a very defined humanitarian convoy that had signs on top, on the roof, a very colorful logo that we are obviously very proud of,” he said. “It’s very clear who we are and what we do.”
Jacob Flickinger, 33, had dual citizenship of the United States and Canada and died in the attack. He was a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces who served in Afghanistan.
Flickinger’s father wrote in a Facebook message paying tribute to his son: ‘My son, Jacob, was killed on Monday delivering food aid to starving families in Gaza. He died doing what he loved and serving others through his work at World Central Kitchen.’
A GoFundMe was created to help Flickinger’s partner Sandy, with whom he shared a one-year-old son, pay for flights and funeral costs, as well as ease some of the burden considering Flickinger was the only one earning.
Jacob Flickinger (right), a 33-year-old American-Canadian citizen, was among the seven killed in the IDF drone strike.
Biden described himself as “outraged and heartbroken” in his statement condemning the attack.
He said Israel “has not done enough to protect humanitarian workers trying to deliver desperately needed aid to civilians” while thousands of Palestinians are caught in the crosshairs of war and are left without food, water and other necessary supplies.
Israel apologized for what it called “a serious mistake” and said it was investigating the incident.
International outrage came after World Central Kitchen’s convoy of aid workers was hit by a “triple touch” Israeli drone strike on Monday, leaving seven dead. The three vehicles were marked as humanitarian aid and were hit while traveling on a route approved by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
At least 196, including 175 UN staff and aid workers, have been killed in Gaza, according to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.