As the Israel-Palestine conflict enters its second week and Israel prepares for a ground assault on Hamas-controlled Gaza, U.S. President Joe Biden clarified the U.S. position in a media interview.
Biden did not call for Israel to cease fire but cautioned against reoccupying Gaza. He confirmed that U.S. forces would not participate in the current conflict and urged Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon to stay out to prevent further escalation.
On the day of Biden's interview, U.S. National Security Advisor Sullivan announced the Biden administration's plans to provide more substantial arms aid to both Israel and Ukraine.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken visited Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, and the UAE, attempting to persuade these nations to publicly condemn Hamas. However, he was unsuccessful. Meanwhile, Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, have no intention of directly participating in the current conflict. Saudi Arabia has merely called for an end to the escalating conflict.
From 1948 to 1982, Arab nations engaged in five Middle East wars with Israel, with Israel emerging victorious each time.
Biden's Remarks
On October 15th, CBS aired an hour-long interview with Biden regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict.
In the interview, Biden did not mention a ceasefire. He believed Israel's actions against Hamas were justified and criticized Hamas for hiding behind civilians, stating the group must be "eliminated." The U.S., UK, Canada, and the EU have designated Hamas as a terrorist organization.
However, he emphasized that Hamas and its extremists don't represent all Palestinians. He stated that reoccupying Gaza would be a "mistake" for Israel. Biden expressed the need for Palestinian authorities and a path to Palestinian statehood.
After the third Middle East war in 1967, Israel occupied the Gaza Strip, which was under Egyptian control. Israel's occupation lasted 38 years, during which they established 21 Jewish settlements. However, Palestinians continuously resisted, leading to two significant uprisings in Gaza.
By 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza but maintained control over its airspace and territorial waters, extending the separation barrier with Gaza. After Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, Israel intensified its blockade, severely restricting the movement of people and goods.
The "two-state solution" for Palestinian statehood is internationally recognized. However, during Trump's presidency, the U.S. sidestepped this solution, unilaterally recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and allowing Israel to expand settlements in the West Bank.
Reaffirming the U.S. commitment to the "two-state solution," Biden called for the establishment of humanitarian corridors in Gaza for the evacuation of children and women. He did not comment on whether Israel should completely blockade Gaza or launch a ground assault but expressed confidence that Israel would adhere to the "rules of war" and act as a democratic nation.
Israeli media reported last week that the U.S. urged Israel to delay its ground assault on Gaza until a humanitarian corridor was established. On Friday, Israel asked 1.1 million people in northern Gaza to move south within 24 hours, seen as a prelude to a ground assault. The UN warned that evacuating 1.1 million people in such a short time would have catastrophic consequences.
According to Middle Eastern media, several Gazan civilians were killed by Israeli airstrikes while moving from the north to the south of Gaza. On Sunday, the Israeli military agreed to a three-hour window, temporarily halting airstrikes on Gaza's main north-south road.
As of the 15th, the conflict has resulted in over 4,100 deaths on both sides. In Gaza, the death toll has risen to 2,670, including over 700 children, with more than 9,600 injured. The number of UN workers killed in Gaza has reached 14. On the Israeli side, 1,400 have died, with 3,842 injured.
While urging Israel to establish a humanitarian corridor, the U.S. currently has no intention of asking Israel to halt its military actions in Gaza.
A recently released U.S. State Department memo instructed U.S. officials not to use terms like "de-escalate the conflict," "ceasefire," "stop the violence," and "return to calm."
Last week, Secretary of State Blinken posted on platform X, stating that he encouraged Turkey to mediate a ceasefire and release hostages during a call with the Turkish Foreign Minister. He later removed the mention of mediating a ceasefire, reiterating Israel's right to defend itself, rescue hostages, and protect its citizens.
As Israel's primary ally, the U.S. has not called for a halt to the fighting and has no intention of joining the battle.
Biden made it clear that there's no need for U.S. forces to join the Israel-Palestine conflict, as Israel already has the best fighting force. He promised that the U.S. would provide Israel with "everything they want."
Biden also sent a message to Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon, warning both not to join the fight and escalate the conflict. While accusing Iran of supporting Hamas and Hezbollah, Biden also stated that there's currently no evidence to suggest Iran had prior knowledge or was involved in Hamas's surprise attacks on Israel.
Blinken's Unsuccessful Lobbying
As Biden promised, the U.S. is preparing to increase aid to Israel. National Security Advisor Sullivan announced on the 15th that the U.S. government plans to provide a much higher amount of military aid to both Israel and Ukraine than the previously reported $2 billion. The new aid will assist Ukraine in defending its territory and help Israel counter "terrorist threats."
This week, Biden will discuss the new aid for Ukraine and Israel with Congress. Due to the vacancy in the Speaker of the House position, the House cannot currently approve any new bills, including aid for Israel and Ukraine. After House Majority Whip Steve Scalise withdrew from the Speaker's race, Trump-backed House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan became the Republican candidate for Speaker.
Senate Democratic leaders said they would quickly pass aid for Ukraine and Israel to put reverse pressure on the House. The Senate is controlled by the Democrats. However, House Republicans oppose bundling aid for Israel with aid for Ukraine, as many Republicans are reluctant to continue providing aid to Ukraine.
In addition to increasing aid, the U.S. continues to flex its muscles, deterring other armed groups on behalf of Israel. Last weekend, the Pentagon ordered the "Eisenhower" carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean near Israel, the second carrier strike group sent to the region.
Secretary of State Blinken visited five Middle Eastern countries, trying to persuade them to publicly condemn Hamas and prevent the Israel-Palestine conflict from spilling over.
Before the current conflict, the U.S. had been brokering the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's leader, and Israel. Saudi Arabia had set several conditions and recently showed willingness to advance negotiations with Israel. Talks between Saudi Arabia and Israel are also seen as a significant reason for Hamas's surprise attacks on Israel.
After the outbreak of hostilities between Hamas and Israel, Saudi Arabia remained low-key and did not condemn Hamas. Last week, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke with Iranian President Raisi about the Israel-Palestine conflict, marking the first call between the two since Saudi Arabia and Iran announced reconciliation in March. Subsequently, sources revealed that Saudi Arabia had postponed normalization talks with Israel.
According to U.S. media, when Blinken visited Saudi Arabia last weekend, the Saudi Crown Prince kept him waiting for several hours. The meeting initially scheduled for the evening was moved to the next morning.
During the meeting, the Saudi Crown Prince called for an end to the military actions in Gaza, the lifting of the blockade on Gaza, and urged all parties not to escalate the conflict further. The Saudi Crown Prince also refused to publicly condemn Hamas. The Saudi Foreign Ministry condemned Israel's airstrikes in Gaza, accusing it of attacking "unarmed civilians."
In his meeting with Blinken, Egyptian President Sisi expressed his dissatisfaction with Israel more clearly. He accused Israel of exceeding its right to self-defense in Gaza, turning it into "collective punishment" against the Gazan people.
Sisi stated that the lack of progress on the "two-state solution" led to the eruption of Palestinian anger. He called for an immediate de-escalation of the conflict and the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
While Middle Eastern countries did not condemn Hamas as Blinken had hoped, they also had no plans to send troops to support Hamas. Currently, only Hezbollah in Lebanon is providing military support to Hamas. The Houthi militia in Yemen warned that if the U.S. directly intervenes in the Israel-Palestine conflict, they would also join the fight.
Egypt has always been a significant mediator in the Israel-Palestine issue. The country maintains relations with Israel, the official Palestinian representative PLO, and Hamas. Gaza was once under Egyptian control, and Egypt is the only country, besides Israel, that shares a border with Gaza.
In Sunday's talks, Egypt agreed to cooperate with the U.S., Israel, and the UN to reopen the Rafah border crossing with Gaza. The Rafah crossing is Gaza's only land crossing that bypasses Israel, which was previously targeted by Israeli airstrikes.
There are conflicting reports about the closure of the Rafah crossing. Earlier Egyptian media reported that Egypt had indefinitely closed the crossing. Later, the Egyptian government stated that the crossing was not closed, but Israeli airstrikes had rendered it inoperable.
After the reopening of the Rafah crossing, foreign citizens, including Americans, will evacuate from Gaza to Egypt. The U.S. government has urged its citizens to head to the Rafah crossing, with an estimated 500 to 600 American citizens in Gaza.
It's unclear whether the Rafah crossing will be open to ordinary Gazan refugees. Egypt fears that Israel will intentionally drive Gazans into Egypt, permanently relocating them to the Sinai Peninsula. As early as the 1950s, the UN considered relocating Gazans to the Sinai Peninsula with U.S. support.
On Monday morning, Middle Eastern media reported that the Israeli Defense Forces and Hamas announced a temporary five-hour ceasefire in southern Gaza to allow foreigners to evacuate from the Rafah crossing and let international aid enter Gaza.
However, by Monday afternoon, Israeli media reported that the day's ceasefire had not been realized, and no humanitarian aid had entered Gaza. Later on Monday, British media reported that the Rafah crossing had reopened, and the first batch of aid had entered Gaza.
