(This has been the strongest pushback against Israel to date by the Biden-led administration)
As the war crimes in Gaza continues unabated, there have been repeated calls for the United States of America to cut its funding and tacit, unwavering support for the Israeli administration’s continued assault on the Palestinian people.
There may be a glimmer of hope, however slight, for the people of Palestine as Joe Biden claims to have had extensive talks with Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu for the past few days pushing for a temporary ceasefire.
“I’ve had extensive conversations with the prime minister of Israel over the last several days, almost an hour each, and I’ve made the case, and I feel very strongly about it, that there has to be a temporary ceasefire to get the prisoners out, to get the hostages out,” Biden told reporters at the White House.
A temporary ceasefire doesn’t go nearly far enough to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Some have explicitly criticized the lackluster move, such as the director of Palestine news website, Electronic Intifada. Ali Abunimah tells Al Jazeera that Biden’s comments on a “temporary ceasefire” in Gaza are part of a “duplicitous double game”.
Biden has also stated that the temporary ceasefire should proceed before the invasion of Rafah, stating that “I’m hoping that the Israelis will not make any massive land invasion in the meantime.”
Ultimately, this means that the Biden administration has so far failed and continues to fail to leverage its influence to end the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Photo – REUTERS/KEVIN LAMARQUE AND ALEX KOLOMOISKY/POOL
