U.S. President Joe Biden will head to Israel Wednesday, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, following his marathon meeting with Israel’s prime minister that ended in the early hours Tuesday.
“He's coming here at a critical moment for Israel, for the region and for the world,” Blinken said.
In Washington, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Biden would visit Tel Aviv and continue the same day to Amman, Jordan, where he will meet with King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
The White House said President Biden will reiterate that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination and discuss the humanitarian needs of civilians in Gaza.
Blinken also said that a possible breakthrough in getting humanitarian assistance to besieged Palestinians in the Gaza Strip was reached in his seven-and-a-half-hour meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Today, and at our request, the United States and Israel have agreed to develop a plan that will enable humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organizations to reach civilians in Gaza – and them alone -- including the possibility of creating areas to help keep civilians out of harm’s way,” Blinken said in a brief statement to reporters.
He said it is critical that aid begin flowing into Gaza as soon as possible, but expressed concern that Hamas militants may try to seize supplies or prevent their distribution.
Palestinians in Gaza have been without electricity and under a complete Israeli siege with no food, fuel or water allowed into the Hamas-controlled territory since last Monday (Oct. 9). Israel says it imposed the blockade in response to the deadly terrorist attack Hamas launched on Israeli towns on October 7, which killed more than 1,300 Israelis. Nearly 200 others were taken hostage by the terror group.
Israel has amassed 300,000 troops on Gaza’s border poised for a likely ground invasion, vowing to wipe out Hamas.
Hundreds of thousands of Gazans have heeded Israel’s orders to evacuate northern Gaza for the southern half of the Strip ahead of the expected offensive.
“There continues to be no water for the vast majority of the population in Gaza,” said Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the U.N. agency that assists Palestinians, UNRWA.
“We're talking about 2 million people in the Gaza Strip who do not have water, and water is running out, and water is life, and life is running out of Gaza,” Touma said.
UNRWA said Monday that there are not enough body bags for the dead in Gaza.
Touma said an estimated 1 million Palestinians have fled toward the south and nearly 400,000 of them are sheltering mostly in UNRWA schools. One group is being housed in an UNRWA warehouse, which Touma said is not equipped to be a shelter.
UNRWA has deployed an advance team to Egypt to prepare for the possible opening of a humanitarian corridor to bring aid supplies into Gaza.
The United Nations said humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths will head to Egypt on Tuesday for several days. He also plans to visit Israel.
At the United Nations, the Security Council voted late Monday on a Russian-drafted resolution seeking a humanitarian cease-fire and the release of all Israeli and foreign hostages.
The measure, which Russia did not negotiate with council members, failed to receive the necessary support. Only five of the 15 council members supported the measure, four voted against it and six abstained.
The United States was among those who did not support it. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said civilians should not have to suffer for Hamas’ atrocities, but said the proposed text failed to condemn the terror group.
“By failing to condemn Hamas, Russia is giving cover to a terrorist group that brutalizes innocent civilians,” she said. “It is outrageous, it is hypocritical, and it is indefensible.”
Meanwhile, the death toll stemming from the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the retaliatory strikes by Israel on Gaza is mounting. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,808 Palestinians have been killed and more than 10,000 wounded. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, and at least 199 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken as hostages into Gaza, according to Israel.
"The efforts on the hostages are a top national priority," military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said. "The army and Israel are working around the clock to bring them back."
