President Joe Biden spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday night, expressing support for Israel’s “right to defend itself” but at the same time calling for a ceasefire.
The exchange, the third since the current round of violence began, came hours after Netanyahu ordered more strikes against terrorist sites in the Gaza Strip.
Biden “encouraged Israel to make every effort to ensure the protection of innocent civilians,” a White House readout said, and added the two “discussed progress in Israel’s military operations against Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza.”
Biden also “welcomed efforts to address inter-communal violence” amid bloody riots in Israel’s mixed Arab-Jewish cities.
Biden told Netanyahu he had spoken with Egypt and other regional partners on brokering a ceasefire.
According to the Associated Press, which cited an anonymous source, the Biden administration “expressed support for” rather than demand a ceasefire because the U.S. is adamant to show support Israel’s right to defend itself from Hamas.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday accused Biden of “bloody hands” because of his support of Israel.
“You forced us to say this. Because we can not stay silent on this anymore,” he said.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, some 200 Palestinians been killed over eight days of fighting, 59 of them children.
Israel says more than 150 were terrorists from Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups. 42 Palestinians were killed in a single strike on Sunday. Many were also killed by errant Hamas rockets. At least 450 rockets were misfired and landed within Gaza itself.
Twelve people in Israel, including a five-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl, have been killed by rockets, and hundreds more have been injured.
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