The IDF will do everything it can to prevent harm to civilians during its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised US President Joe Biden during his visit to Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
“As we proceed during this war Israel will do everything it can to keep civilians out of harm’s way. We have asked them and will continue to ask them to move to safer areas.
“We will continue to work with you to ensure that the minimal requirements are met,” he said.
Biden: The road to victory will be long and hard
“The road to victory will be long and hard but united in purpose and with a deep sense of justice and the unbreakable spirit of soldiers and people Israel will prevail,” Netanyahu stressed.
Biden emphasized that the US would “continue to have your back as you work to defend your people,” he said.
They spoke at the start of a war cabinet meeting, hours after Biden landed and lauded Israeli bravery against Hamas, even as he cautioned that they must stand by their values as they battle the enemy.
“I want to say to the people of Israel, that their courage, commitment, bravery is stunning. I am proud to be here,” Biden said during joint statements in Tel Aviv with Netanyahu.
He arrived on the 12th of the Gaza war, he said, so that Israel would “know where the US stands.. I wanted to personally come and make that clear."
Biden referenced the October 7th Hamas assault on southern Israel in which over 1,400 people and soldiers were killed and over 200 people were held captive.
“Hamas committed evils and atrocities that make ISIS look somewhat more rational,” Biden said, as he noted that some 31 Americans were killed in that attack.
“Americans are grieving with you. They really are and they are really worried. They know that this is not an easy field to navigate” in, Biden said.
Joe Biden has Gaza's humanitarian costs in mind
But he cautioned Israel to bear in mind the humanitarian cost.
“We have to also bear in mind that Hamas does not represent all the Palestinian people,” he said.
The IDF campaign to root out Hamas from Gaza has caused 3,000 deaths and they are mounting.
Palestinians have blamed the explosion at Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital in Gaza late Tuesday on an Israeli aerial strike, while the IDF has said that it was a failed Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket launch. The initial death toll was in the hundreds.
“I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion in Gaza yesterday,” Biden said, but explained that he understood that Israel had not attacked the hospital.
“Based on what I have seen it appears that it was done by the other team, not you,” Biden said.
He added that humanitarian assistance must be given to the Palestinians.
“The world is looking,” he said as he explained that Israel must stand by the democratic values that both it and the United States value.
The world is “looking to see what you are going to do,” he said.
Netanyahu thanked him for the unprecedented “level of cooperation,” even for such strong allies.
“We see that support in the clear message you send our enemies not to test our resolve and in the two American carrier battle groups you sent into the region to back up those words with action,” he said.
“But above all, Mr. President, the world sees that support in the moral clarity that you have demonstrated from the moment that Israel was attacked,” Netanyahu stressed.
“Mr. President, for the people of Israel there is only one thing better than having a true friend like you standing with Israel and that is having you standing in Israel.
“Your visit here is the first visit of an American president in Israel in a time of war. It is deeply, deeply moving. It speaks to the depth of your personal commitment to Israel.
“It speaks to the depth of your personal commitment to the future of the Jewish people and the one and only Jewish state. So I know I speak for all the people of Israel when I say thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for standing with Israel today, tomorrow and always,” Netanyahu stated.
While in Tel Aviv the two meant held a private conversation that lasted twice as long as was scheduled. Biden will then join a war cabinet meeting and speak with bereaved and hostage families as well as first responders to the October 7th attack.
In his conversations with Israeli officials, its believed he will warn them against a ground invasion that includes re-occupying Gaza. His visit is also seen as a warning sign to Israel’s enemies, including Iran not to regionalize the conflict.
He had been anticipated to head from Israel to Jordan.
In the aftermath of the Gaza attack, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas pulled out of a quadrilateral summit planned in Amman, with Biden, King Abdullah and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Jordan subsequently canceled the summit.
Hamas says US is 'blindly biased' towards Israel- statement
Hamas said in a statement on Wednesday that the US was "blindly biased to Israel," after Biden appeared to blame a blast at a hospital on Palestinian militant group Hamas.