Biden Calls For Ceasefire

From the BBC:

“Biden tells Netanyahu he supports a ceasefire in Israeli-Palestinian conflict”

President Joe Biden, in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, expressed his support for a ceasefire in the fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants, the White House said. “The President expressed his support for a ceasefire and discussed U.S. engagement with Egypt and other partners towards that end,” the White House said in a statement. The call between the two leaders follows an emergency meeting Sunday between the U.N. Security Council and Muslim nations. In the meeting, they demanded a stop to civilian bloodshed as Israeli warplanes carried out the deadliest single attacks in nearly a week of unrelenting Hamas rocket barrages and Israeli airstrikes.

The Israeli military unleashed a wave of heavy airstrikes on the Gaza Strip early Monday, saying it destroyed nine miles of militant tunnels and the homes of nine alleged Hamas commanders. Residents of Gaza awakened by the overnight barrage described it as the heaviest since the war began a week ago, and even more powerful than a wave of airstrikes in Gaza City the day before that left 42 dead and flattened three buildings. There was no immediate word on the casualties from the latest strikes. A three-story building in Gaza City was heavily damaged, but residents said the military warned them 10 minutes before the strike and everyone cleared out. They said many of the airstrikes hit nearby farmland. At least 200 Palestinians had been killed in the strikes as of Monday, including 59 children and 35 women, with 1,300 people wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Eight people in Israel have been killed in rocket attacks launched from Gaza, including a 5-year-old boy and a soldier.

“The United States remains greatly concerned by the violence, by the escalating violence. Hundreds of people killed or injured, including children being pulled from the rubble,” said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. As the worst Israeli-Palestinian fighting since 2014 raged, the Biden administration had previously limited its public criticisms to Hamas and declined to send a top-level envoy to the region, or press Israel publicly and directly to wind down its latest military operation in the Gaza Strip, a six-mile by 25-mile territory that is home to more than 2 million people. Cease-fire mediation by Egypt and others have shown no sign of progress.

The United States, Israel’s top ally, also blocked for a third time Monday what would have been a unanimous statement by the 15-nation U.N. Security Council expressing “grave concern” over the intensifying Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the loss of civilian lives. The final U.S. rejection Monday killed the Security Council statement, at least for now. White House press secretary Jen Psaki and national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States was focusing instead on “quiet, intensive diplomacy.” Speaking in Copenhagen, where he was making an unrelated tour of Nordic countries, Blinken ticked off other, quieter U.S. outreach so far to try to de-escalate hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel, and said he would be making more calls Monday. “In all of these engagements we have made clear that we are prepared to lend our support and good offices to the parties should they seek a cease-fire,” Blinken said. He said he welcomed efforts by the U.N., Egypt and other nations working for a cease-fire. “Any diplomatic initiative that advances that prospect is something that we’ll support,” he said. “And we are again willing and ready to do that. But ultimately it is up to the parties to make clear that they want to pursue a cease-fire.” The crisis in the Mideast, lead to mass protests in the U.S. over the weekend. Thousands hit the streets of downtown Chicago Sunday in support of Palestinians. Protests also emerged in Cleveland, Birmingham, Alabama, and the west coast with supporters of both sides shutting down Los Angeles traffic.

^ Hopefully now that Biden has the US behind this the world will finally put pressure on Hamas and Gaza to stop their attacks (which would mean Israel would stop their retaliatory attacks.) ^

https://www.newsnationnow.com/world/biden-tells-netanyahu-he-supports-a-ceasefire-in-israeli-palestinian-conflict/