US President Joe Biden showed his characteristic humor on Tuesday when a reporter tried to pose a question about the continued violence between Israel and terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.
While Biden was in the process of test-driving a Ford electric vehicle, a reporter at the scene asked the president if he could ask something about the situation in the Gaza Strip.
"Mr. President, can I ask you a quick question about Israel before you drive away, since it is very important?" a reporter asked.
"No, you can't – not unless you get in front of the car as I step on it. I'm only teasing," Biden said, with laughter heard in the background. The president then drove away.
The joke came as international and domestic pressure is mounting on Biden to push Israel toward ceasing airstrikes against Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip. Over the past week, a growing chorus of progressive Democratic lawmakers has been more vocal of their criticisms of Israel's relations with its Arab community and the Palestinians.
Biden spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, the third times since the IDF's Operation Guardian of the Walls began, saying that he supports a ceasefire in Gaza but is not necessarily demanding it.
The United States has also been vetoing United Nations Security Council resolutions aimed at discussing the ongoing violence between Israel and Gaza, with the third veto occurring this week.
Besides the support for Israel, US officials have also called on the Jewish state and the IDF to avoid as much as possible more civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip as a result of airstrikes.