President Joe Biden described negotiations over a potential ceasefire between the Israeli military and Palestinian militants in Gaza as “a work in progress” as the two sides clinch closer to a full-blown conflict.
Biden relayed his conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reporters on Thursday, saying his State Department, Defense Department, and intelligence community were “in contact” with their counterparts in Israel and the broader Middle East region.
“One of the things that I have seen thus far is that there has not been a significant overreaction. The question is how we get to a point where they get to a point where there is a significant reduction in the attacks, particularly the rocket attacks that are indiscriminately fired in the population centers,” Biden said.
CHENEY OUSTER POINTS TO ROUGH TIME FOR BIDEN AFTER MIDTERM ELECTIONS
“I expect that I’ll be having some more discussions,” he added. “It’s a work in progress right now.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki declined moments later to say that the violence, the most deadly clashes since the 50-day Gaza war in 2014, would result in a Biden administration-led renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Instead, she repeated the White House’s position that only a “two-state solution” would end the decades-old volatility.
Biden and Netanyahu spoke on the telephone this week, and the president emphasized “his unwavering support for Israel’s security and for Israel’s legitimate right to defend itself and its people, while protecting civilians,” according to a White House readout of their conversation.
“He also conveyed the United States’ encouragement of a pathway toward restoring a sustainable calm,” aides said. “He shared his conviction that Jerusalem, a city of such importance to people of faith from around the world, must be a place of peace.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken dispatched a special envoy to Israel this week, too, to spearhead the U.S. efforts to deescalate tensions.
Biden’s initial alignment with Israel seems closer than former President Barack Obama’s stance. Obama’s relationship with Netanyahu became especially frayed in the final years of his administration over issues such as Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in Gaza as of Wednesday night, including at least 16 children. At least six Israeli civilians have been killed as well, including one child.
