American President Joe Biden has issued one of his strongest criticisms of the military strategy in Gaza of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which must justify its level of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory threatened with famine on Wednesday before the Supreme Court.
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The American president once again distances himself from Benyamin Netanyahu. Joe Biden once again criticized the war policy pursued by the Israeli Prime Minister in Gaza. “ I think what he is doing is wrong. I don’t agree with his approach “, he said in response to a question about the conduct of the war in Gaza by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an interview with the Spanish-language channel Univision.
Read alsoGaza: six months later, a breach in Joe Biden’s policy of unconditional support for Israel
“ What I’m asking is that the Israelis call for a ceasefire, that they allow for the next six or eight weeks full access to food and medicine coming into the country “, declared the American president, while Benyamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet met Tuesday evening to discuss the truce project.
New truce proposal in exchange for release of hostages
Six months after the start of the war triggered by the bloody attack carried out by the Islamist movement Hamas against Israel, Israeli military operations continue in the Gaza Strip with, during the night, deadly strikes in the north and center of the territory, according to witnesses, as Muslims around the world celebrate Eid el-Fitr on Wednesday, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan.
In Cairo, the mediating countries – Qatar, Egypt, United States – put a new proposal on the table in three stages on Sunday. The first provides for a six-week truce, the release of 42 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for 800 to 900 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, the entry of 400 to 500 trucks of food aid per day and the return home of the inhabitants of northern Gaza Strip displaced by the war, according to a source within Hamas.
Hamas said: study the proposal » before transmitting his response to the mediators, adding that Israel “ had not responded to any » of his requests. The White House on Tuesday judged these statements “ not very encouraging “.
“ No force in the world will stop us »
Despite warnings from foreign capitals, including from his American ally, Benyamin Netanyahu says he is determined to launch a ground offensive in Rafah, which he presents as the last major bastion of Hamas, in power since 2007 in the Gaza Strip. This border town with Egypt is home, according to the UN, to around a million and a half people, the majority displaced, leading to fears of a worsening human toll in the event of a land offensive there.
Israel announced on Sunday the withdrawal of its troops from the large neighboring city of Khan Younes, destroyed after several months of fighting.
“ We will complete the elimination of Hamas battalions, including in Rafah. No force in the world will stop us “, Benyamin Netanyahu declared again on Tuesday. But according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, an Israeli operation in Rafah does not seem ” imminent “.
Israel is also facing very strong international pressure to let more aid flow into the territory threatened by famine, according to the UN. In mid-March, five NGOs submitted a petition to the Israeli Supreme Court in the hope that the authorities “ respect their obligations as an occupying power » by providing all necessary assistance to the civilian population of Gaza. After a first hearing last week, the court gave the government until April 10 to answer a series of questions on humanitarian policy in Gaza. Ahead of the deadline, authorities said 468 trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the highest number in one day since the start of the war.