President Biden said Monday that a new ceasefire in the Gaza Strip could begin within days. This came after protesters demanding an end to Israeli aggression followed him to 30 Rockefeller Plaza for an interview with NBC late-night host Seth Meyers.
“It’s the end of the weekend,” the 81-year-old president told reporters during a visit with Meyers to an ice cream parlor next to Peacock Network’s headquarters after a taping of Meyers’ “Late Night” show. I hope you can come by.”
“My national security adviser says it’s over, it’s close, it’s not over yet. My hope is that by next Monday there will be a ceasefire,” Biden said. added.
In the aftermath of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack in which jihadists killed about 1,200 people and recaptured about 250 hostages, the civil war broke out as Israeli forces fought to crush Hamas terrorists. Mr. Biden, who had repeatedly opposed it early on, embraced the term “ceasefire.” Gaza.
The White House has said in recent months that it opposes a ceasefire but supports a “humanitarian pause” in fighting, but the administration has recently endorsed the concept of a “temporary ceasefire.”
When asked last week about the evolving terminology and its meaning, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby defined a “temporary ceasefire” as “anything that lasts more than a week.” If successful, it could take him up to six weeks. ”
However, Kirby added: “We still do not believe that the time is right for a full ceasefire, meaning a permanent ceasefire, one that brings Hamas under control and relieves Hamas of responsibility.” “I haven’t done so,” he said. To free the hostages. ”
Biden’s re-election chances are seen as jeopardized by the war, in part due to the anger of Arab-American and Muslim-American voters in battleground states such as Michigan, and polls show he has a significant lead. It has been shown that a large number of their peers are willing to vote for other candidates. .
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), a Palestinian American, told Michigan Democrats to vote “irresponsible” in the state’s primary on Tuesday to send a message to the White House. I am calling on you to do so.
Mr. Biden has been persistently heckled by pro-ceasefire demonstrators in public and during large protest marches where participants chanted “Genocide Joe!” And he said, “Dammit Joe Biden!” He stormed into the White House and destroyed the front gate.
The president also signaled growing dissatisfaction with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he visited the Jewish state to show support days after a massacre by Hamas.
In recent public remarks, Biden criticized the death toll data released by the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which killed some 30,000 people in the Israeli invasion, after previously deriding the reliability of intelligence sources. It seems that he accepts the claim that he died.
Meanwhile, in private, Biden reportedly called Prime Minister Netanyahu “an outrageous guy.”
Hamas still controls parts of the Gaza Strip, including the city of Rafah along the Egyptian border. The White House publicly called on Israel to halt his advance until it develops a plan to evacuate civilians from the city, where thousands of people have fled from other parts of the territory.
