Biden Vows to End Gaza WarBiden Vows to End Gaza War US President Joe Biden pledged on Thursday to end Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza, where over 38,000 Palestinians have been killed. Addressing reporters after the NATO summit, Biden said both Israel and Hamas have agreed to a framework for a deal, with details being finalized. “These are difficult issues,” Biden said, “but the trend is positive. I am determined to get this deal done and end this war.” Israel has been conducting a devastating campaign in Gaza since October 7, 2023, after a cross-border attack by Hamas killed 1,200 people. The conflict has left Gaza in ruins, displaced most of its civilian population, and put them at risk of starvation due to severe restrictions on humanitarian aid. Biden acknowledged the challenges in delivering aid to Gaza and expressed disappointment over the failure of a temporary pier built by the US for that purpose. “The real issue now is not getting aid into Gaza,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said. “It’s getting aid effectively around Gaza.” The World Food Program has halted operations at the pier after an Israeli hostage rescue operation hit two of its warehouses. Despite the setbacks, Biden remains committed to ending the war and said there is “a significant opportunity” to do so through the ceasefire negotiations. He also noted growing discontent with Hamas among Palestinians in the West Bank, calling attention to Yahya Sinwar, a senior Hamas official in Gaza.
US President Joe Biden said on Thursday he is committed to ending Israel’s ongoing war in the besieged Gaza Strip, where more than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed.
Addressing reporters at the end of NATO’s three-day leaders-level summit, Biden said both Israel and Hamas have agreed to what he called a “framework” of a deal, with negotiators currently working to finalize details.
“These are difficult, complex issues. There are still gaps to be filled. We are making progress. The trend is positive,” he said at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, where he held a nearly hour-long news conference. “And I am determined to get this deal done and end this war, which should end now.”
Israel has been waging a devastating offensive in the Gaza Strip for more than nine months following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, 2023, that killed some 1,200 people. About 250 others were taken back to the coastal enclave as hostages.
More than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since then, leaving much of the territory of 2.3 million people in ruins. Most of the civilian population has been displaced and is at acute risk of famine as Israel imposes severe restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid.
The US attempted to find a temporary solution to the aid delivery problem by building a temporary pier on the Gaza coast. Construction was completed on May 17, but National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan announced on Thursday that all work would be halted and the pier dismantled after a series of setbacks and a continued inability to deliver aid to starving Palestinians who desperately need it.
“I expect that we will wind down the pier operations in a relatively short period of time,” Sullivan told reporters at the NATO summit. “The real issue now is not getting aid into Gaza. It’s getting aid effectively around Gaza.”
The World Food Program, the main U.S. partner that made deliveries from the site possible, has halted operations after a deadly Israeli hostage rescue operation in June, in which two of the organization’s warehouses were hit by rockets.
Biden said he was “disappointed” by the pier’s failure and said he “hoped it would be more successful.”
Since the pier became operational on May 17, more than 8,100 tons, or about 20 million pounds, of humanitarian aid has been moved from the facility to a collection point, where it would be collected by humanitarian organizations for further delivery and distribution, the Pentagon said.
It is now likely that much of that aid will be collected and seized due to distribution errors.
Biden said there are “many things” he “would have liked to convince the Israelis to do,” but said there is now a significant opportunity to “end this war,” referring to the ceasefire negotiations.
“That doesn’t mean we should stop pursuing Sinwar and Hamas, and if you’ve noticed, you know better than most that there is growing discontent in the West Bank among Palestinians with Hamas. Hamas is not popular now,” he said, referring to senior Hamas official in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.
