By Abiola Olawale
President of the United States, Joe Biden, has issued a stern warning to Israel, urging the protection of Palestinian civilians and foreign aid workers in Gaza.
He cautioned that failure to do so could lead to a potential halt in U.S. support for Israel’s conflict with Hamas militants.
Biden made this warning during a call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday.
The New Diplomat reports that the latest directive from the US President is coming in response to a deadly Israeli attack on aid workers from World Central Kitchen. This incident prompted renewed calls from Democratic lawmakers to impose conditions on U.S. aid to Israel. Israel has stated that the attack was a mistake.
Before now Biden had resisted pressure to withhold aid or halt the shipment of weapons to the country. His warning marked the first time he has threatened to potentially condition aid, a development that could change the dynamic of the nearly six-month-old war.
Biden “made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers,” the White House said of the leaders’ phone call. It said the call lasted about 30 minutes.
The president “made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps,” the White House said in a statement.
The New Diplomat reports that Washington is the primary weapons supplier to Israel, and the Biden administration has largely provided diplomatic support for Israel at the United Nations.
Though the White House did not say exactly what steps it wanted Netanyahu to take, nor what it would do if he failed to take them, some analysts said the implicit threat was to slow US arms transfers to Israel or to temper US support at the U.N.
