President Biden was deeply upset and sad after an Israeli attack resulted in the deaths of a number of humanitarian workers in Gaza. He urged Israel to carry out a thorough investigation and disclose the results.
Biden praised the courage and selflessness of the World Central Kitchen workers who died in the explosion, including an American citizen. He described their deaths as a tragedy.
Biden remarked that this conflict has been particularly devastating for aid workers, suggesting that Israel's lack of protection for them has made it challenging to deliver much-needed aid to civilians in Gaza.
He added that such incidents should not occur and criticized Israel for not doing enough to safeguard civilians. He stated that the United States has repeatedly advised Israel to ensure that its military operations against Hamas do not clash with humanitarian efforts to prevent civilian casualties.
Biden said he spoke with Chef José Andrés earlier in the day to offer his condolences. He pledged to continue pressing Israel to ease the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza and to work towards brokering an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in a hostage deal.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted responsibility for the deadly strike that killed seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen the day before.
He stated, "This happens in war. We are conducting a thorough inquiry and are in contact with the governments. We will do everything to prevent a recurrence."
It is likely that the deaths of the foreign aid workers will fuel anger and frustration with Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, where over 32,000 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds of thousands are at risk of famine.
Biden has faced criticism from progressive lawmakers and members of the Muslim-American community for his handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict, which began last October when Hamas carried out a terrorist attack that resulted in the deaths of over 1,000 Israelis.
The president has endeavored to support Israel's right to self-defense while publicly urging Israel to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza and to permit more aid into the region.
White House spokesperson John Kirby acknowledged on Tuesday that the latest deaths of humanitarian workers areindicative of a broader issue” that has persisted since the start of the conflict, but indicated that there would be no change in U.S. support for Israel.
“They’re still under a viable threat of Hamas,” Kirby said. “We’re still going to make sure they can defend themselves and the 7th of October doesn’t happen again. That doesn’t mean that it’s a free pass that we look the other way when something like this happens.
