Biden Asks Netanyahu For Gaza Ceasefire | After the bombing of a humanitarian NGO

President of the United States, Joe Biden called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a ceasefire after Thursday's bombing of a humanitarian agency in the Gaza Strip., in which seven of its volunteers died. before the hour, Netanyahu told his cabinet that Israel is on high alert for Iranian retaliation. Will defend itself if attacked.

As the White House pointed out in a statement, Biden stressed in his call to the Israeli prime minister that “an immediate cease-fire is necessary to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians.” In that sense, He warned that future US support for the war on Gaza would depend on concrete steps taken by Israel. Minimize harm to the public and ensure the safety of humanitarian workers.

After Biden's call at a press conference at the end of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said: “One hundred percent of the population of Gaza needs humanitarian assistance, and those who provide it do so at great risk to their own lives. “The World Central Kitchen (WCK) incident is not the first, but it should be the last.”

The call between the Democratic president and Israel's prime minister was the first direct contact between the two since the April 1 attack that killed seven volunteers from WCK, an NGO founded by Spanish chef Jose Andres. Biden's words signaled a hardening of toneHowever in recent months he has been critical of Israeli military strategy in the Palestinian territories.

Arms support, ditto

In practice, however, his government has not reversed the support it has provided to Israel since the beginning of the conflict.. In fact, this very Thursday, Newspaper The Washington Post The US approved on Monday – the same day as the attack on WCK – A A new weapons package for Israel that includes 2,000 bombs Small and medium diameter.

The White House supported the export. “Except for the two months following the attack, we did not actually send any emergency aid or military assistance to Israel,” a White House Homeland Security spokesman said. John KirbyAt a press conference.

In this sense, he noted that many sales to Israel are not related to the conflict with the Islamist group Hamas, and that “most of these items have been notified to the US Congress months ago. “They face serious threats across the region, including from Iran, and the United States remains strongly committed to helping Israel defend itself,” he stressed..

Meanwhile, deaths in the enclave continue to rise. According to the latest balance sheet of the Gaza Ministry of Health, The total number of dead rose to 33,037 – most of them women and children – and 75,668 injured., within the framework of Israel's bombing campaign on the Strip, in retaliation for a Hamas terrorist attack on October 7 that killed around 1,200 people and took 240 hostages. The ministry also estimated that at least 8,000 people were trapped in the rubble, which rescue teams could not reach because of the intensity of the bombing or because they could not find them.

“Whoever harms us, we will also harm”

Parallel to the war in the Gaza Strip, Israel has been warned that retaliation from Iran threatens Israel's security After an attack against the Israeli army Iranian Embassy in DamascusThirteen people were killed, including seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

“In the last six months we have been engaged in a war on many fronts. We are on full alert. We are monitoring threats and countering them. Defensively and offensively,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari told a press conference.

The Israeli army suspended vacation permits for all troops “After the new security assessment”, the same argument was made on Wednesday Increased personnel and number of personnel serving in the Air Force. “The Israel Defense Forces are engaged in combat and the deployment of forces is regularly reviewed as necessary,” said a military statement on the decisions, which sparked concern among Israelis.

Possible scenarios Israel is preparing for include missile and drone strikes by Iranian-backed groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen, as well as direct ballistic missile strikes from Iran, which have yet to occur.

In turn, Netanyahu sent a message to Iran: “Whoever harms us, we will harm. We know how to defend ourselves and we will act accordingly,” he said. At the start of a War Cabinet meeting. “For years, Iran has gone against us directly and through its proxies, so Israel has gone on the defensive and offensive against Iran and its proxies,” he explained.

How does this affect Israeli citizens?

The words of the head of military intelligence, Aharon Haliva, also did not help to calm spirits: “It is not certain that the bad times are over, and troubled days await us,” he noted.. After a while, the Army had to clarify that there was no change in the instructions to the public. “There is no need to buy generators, store food and withdraw money from ATMs. We will update immediately if any changes are official and regular,” the military establishment said in a message to citizens.

As an additional precaution, Israel also deliberately started moving GPS service to the center of the country –already underway for months along the northern border and in communities near Gaza–, to prevent possible attacks by missiles or drones. Users of geolocation apps such as Israeli-made Waze or Google Maps will see the interruptions and be recognized as being in Beirut or Cairo, which could affect other apps that use the functionality, such as air-raid warning apps. Sirens are very common in Israel and even more so during times of war.

Regional tension

President of Iran Ibrahim RaisiThreatened Israel, blamed the country after the attack. “The attack will not go unanswered. The Zionists must know that they will never achieve their evil goals through such inhuman acts,” he said.. He was joined by Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, who vowed revenge on Israel for the attack on Damascus, hinting that Israel would “regret it”, while Iran's ambassador to Syria insisted that “Israel crossed a red line”.

Israel's attack on Damascus on Monday was the worst blow to the elite military since the death of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who commanded the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force until he was killed by the United States in a 2020 bombing in Iraq.

Tensions with Iran are rising at a critical juncture on the northern border, where the exchange of fire between Israeli troops and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militia backed by the ayatollah regime, is experiencing its most intense moment since their previous war in 2006. Since October 8, when the war began, around 370 people have died on the border, most on the Lebanese side, and Hezbollah, which has confirmed that around 250 fighters have been killed, some in Syria. On the Israeli side, only 18 died, including ten soldiers.