U.S. President Joe Biden Refuses To Call For Ceasefire In Gaza

[Eugene]

Source: Network 10/10Play

16 Nov 2023

U.S. President Joe Biden Refuses To Call For Ceasefire In Gaza

U.S. President Joe Biden has defended his refusal to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, claiming that it is "not realistic" to expect Israel to stop the war.

Speaking to reporters after a summit meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Biden said that the threat of Hamas could not be ignored.

"Hamas has already said publicly that they plan on attacking Israel again like they did before, cutting babies' heads off, burning women and children alive. So the idea that they're going to just stop and not do anything is not realistic."

Reports around Hamas beheadings of 40 infants remain unconfirmed, although widely shared on social media.

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Read more: https://10play.com.au/theproject/articles/u-s-president-joe-biden-refuses-to-call-for-ceasefire-in-gaza/tpa231116rgfqy

[Eugene]

1. Joe Biden issues strident defence of refusal to call for ceasefire in Gaza

Source: The Guardian

Joe Biden issues strident defence of refusal to call for ceasefire in Gaza

US president argues Hamas has said it will not stop attacking Israel, and says he is ‘mildly hopeful’ of hostage deal

Julian Borger World affairs editor
Thu 16 Nov 2023 04.22 EST
First published on Wed 15 Nov 2023 23.42 EST

Joe Biden has presented an unapologetic defence of his refusal to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, arguing that Hamas represents a continuing threat to Israel and that Israeli forces were seeking to avoid civilian casualties.

After a summit meeting with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the Apec summit in San Francisco, Biden told reporters on Wednesday night that Hamas had pledged to continue its attacks on Israel.

Biden also argued that Israeli forces had switched from aerial bombardment, which he seemed to acknowledge had been indiscriminate in parts, to more targeted ground operations, after more than 11,000 Palestinians are reported to have died.

He said: “It is not carpet bombing. This is a different thing. They’re going through these tunnels, they’re going into the hospital. They’re also bringing in incubators or bringing in other means to help people in the hospital, and they’ve given, I’m told, the doctors and nurses and personnel the opportunity to get out of harm’s way. So this is a different story than I believe it was occurring before, the indiscriminate bombing.”

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Read more: https://archive.li/VyK5o

Original Guardian link (registration required): https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/16/joe-biden-israel-hamas-war-ceasefire-defence-gaza-why-palestine