Israel acquiesced on Wednesday to US demands that it won’t stop basic humanitarian aid such as food, water and medicine from entering the Gaza Strip through Egypt’s Rafah Crossing.
“In light of President Biden's request, Israel will not prevent humanitarian assistance from Egypt as long as it is only food, water and medicine for the civilian population located in the southern Gaza Strip,” the Prime Minster’s Office said at the end of Biden’s visit one day solidarity visit to Tel Aviv.
It warned, however, that it would only allow these supplies in, as long as it did not reach Hamas.
“Any supplies that reach Hamas – will be prevented,” the PMO stated.
The war cabinet took this step, it explained, “In light of the sweeping and vital American support for the war effort, as well as US President Biden's request for basic humanitarian assistance.”
Assistance in the interim
The PMO stressed, however, that it could not provide assistance to the Palestinians as long as Hamas was holding over 200 people hostage.
“Israel will not allow any humanitarian aid from its territory to the Gaza Strip as long as the hostages are not returned,” the PMO said.
“Israel demands that the Red Cross visits to the captives and is working to mobilize extensive international support for this demand,” the PMO said.
Biden arrived in Israel on the 12th day of the Gaza war, which began when Hamas assaulted southern Israel on October 7th, killing over 1,400 civilians and soldiers and taking an additional 200 people captive.
He spent the better part of the visit promoting his support for Israel, but he also underscored his commitment to the Palestinian people and announced a $100 million humanitarian aid package for Gaza and the West Bank.“This money will support more than 1 million displaced and conflict-affected Palestinians, including emergency needs in Gaza,” he said.
Israeli aerial strikes as well as failed Palestinian rocket launches, however, have claimed some 3,500 Palestinian lives.
Some one million Palestinians, out of the 2.3 million that live in the Strip, have fled their homes in northern Gaza to escape the bombings.
“The vast majority of Palestinians are not Hamas. Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people,”
US President Joe Biden
Israel’s decision to stop the flow of food, fuel and electricity from Israel into Gaza, however, has created a humanitarian crisis.
During Biden’s trip, Netanyahu assured the President that “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 said that it was important not to confuse Palestinians in Gaza with ISIS like Hamas terrorists who brutally killed Israelis, in some cases burning them alive.
“The vast majority of Palestinians are not Hamas. Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people,” Biden said.
“Hamas uses innocents — innocent families in Gaza as human shields, putting their command centers, their weapons, their communications tunnels in residential areas,” Biden explained.
He understood, Biden said, that for Israel the was reminiscent of the Holocaust and was larger in scope for Israel than the September 11th attack in 2001 against the Twin Towers.
“For a nation the size of Israel, it was like 15 9/11s. The scale may be different, but I’m sure those horrors have tapped into so- — some kind of primal feeling in Israel, just like it did and felt in the United States,” Biden said.
“Shock, pain, rage — an all-consuming rage. I understand, and many Americans understand,” he said.
But he cautioned, “While you feel that rage, don’t be consumed by it.”
Israel has an obligation as a Jewish state and a democracy to value human life, he said.
“You are a Jewish state, but you’re also a democracy. And like the United States, you don’t live by the rules of terrorists. You live by the rule of law. And when conflicts flare, you live by the ru- — law of wars.
“What sets us apart from the terrorists is we believe in the fundamental dignity of every human life — Israeli, Palestinian, Arab, Jew, Muslim, Christian — everyone.”
The world is “looking to see what you are going to do,” he said.