Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel retaliated with an aerial bombing and ground offensive that the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip says has killed more than 10,500 people, many of them children.
International calls for a ceasefire have mounted, as have protests, including one at the weekend which targeted the White House. However, Biden ruled out a longer truce for now.
“None. No possibility,” Biden told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to Illinois when asked about the chances of a ceasefire.
He later confirmed that in a call with Netanayhu that “I’ve asked for a pause longer than three days”.
When asked if he was frustrated with Netanyahu, he said, “it’s taken a little longer than I hoped”.
Biden did not mention the four-hour pauses that the White House announced.
The United States has firmly stood by key ally Israel since the attacks, saying that Hamas cannot be allowed to remain in control of Gaza.
But Washington has also been publicly calling on the Israeli military to obey the “laws of war” and avoid civilian casualties, while privately pushing Israel to scale back its offensive and to develop a plan for what comes next.
Israel has pressed on and has encircled northern Gaza in recent days. It said Thursday it had fought a 10-hour battle that toppled one of the Palestinian militants’ strongholds.
The army said 50,000 people had fled their homes in the main battle zone of northern Gaza on Wednesday, a sharp increase in numbers from earlier this week, adding to the more than 1.5 million people already seeking safety in the south of the coastal strip.
Source: CNA
