US President Joe Biden said he thought there should be a humanitarian “pause” in the Israel-Hamas war, after his campaign speech on Wednesday evening was interrupted by a protester.
“I think we need a pause,” Biden said.
The call was a subtle departure for Biden and top aides, who throughout the Middle East crisis have been steadfast in stating they would not dictate how Israel operates militarily in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks.
Photo: AP
Yet Biden has faced growing pressure from human rights groups, fellow world leaders and other Democratic Party members, who say that Israel’s bombardment of Gaza is collective punishment and that a ceasefire is needed.
Biden commented that he was exerting pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give Palestinians a brief reprieve from the relentless military operation that has left Gaza mired in a roiling humanitarian crisis.
The White House has yet to call for a ceasefire.
Hundreds of foreign nationals and dozens of seriously injured Palestinians were allowed to leave Gaza after more than three weeks under siege.
The first people to leave Gaza crossed into Egypt.
Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Herzog on Wednesday told The Hill on NewsNation that “we don’t need urging” in response to calls for more aid.
“We are ramping up humanitarian supplies into Gaza in those areas which are away from Hamas in the southern part of Gaza. The number of truckloads doubles and is going to pick up more and more,” he said.
Biden was speaking to supporters in Minneapolis Wednesday evening about his run for president in 2020 when a woman stood up and yelled: “Mr. President, if you care about Jewish people, as a rabbi, I need you to call for a ceasefire.”
His presence drew more than 1,000 nearby demonstrators. They carried Palestinian flags and signs that read “Stop Bombing Children,” “Free Palestine” and “Ceasefire now.”
In other news, just weeks after a frenzied trip to the Middle East, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is returning to the region with a somewhat more nuanced message than he offered in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’ bloody Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Israel’s military response.
As he did last month, Blinken would stress US support for Israel and try to prevent a wider Middle Eastern war as he visits Israel and Jordan starting today.
However, Blinken’s agenda this time is more complex as the conflict intensifies and the Biden administration grapples with competing domestic and international interests and anger.
Meanwhile, Israel hit Gaza’s largest refugee camp with renewed air strikes on Wednesday, prompting UN rights officials to warn that targeting densely populated residential areas “could amount to war crimes.”
Bombs struck the Jabalia camp for a second time in two days, pulverizing buildings and, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, killing dozens of people.
The UN decried Israel’s most recent bombings, joining a chorus of international condemnation from as far afield as Bolivia, which severed diplomatic ties in protest.
Additional reporting by AFP
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Friday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
FORCED LABOR: A US court listed three Taiwanese and nine firms based in Taiwan in its indictment, with eight of the companies registered at the same address Nine companies registered in Taiwan, as well as three Taiwanese, on Tuesday were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) as a result of a US federal court indictment. The indictment unsealed at the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, said that Chen Zhi (陳志), a dual Cambodian-British national, is being indicted for fraud conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding Group’s forced-labor scam camps in Cambodia. At its peak, the company allegedly made US$30 million per day, court documents showed. The US government has seized Chen’s noncustodial wallet, which contains
SUPPLY CHAIN: Taiwan’s advantages in the drone industry include rapid production capacity that is independent of Chinese-made parts, the economic ministry said The Executive Yuan yesterday approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion (US$1.44 billion) into domestic production of uncrewed aerial vehicles over the next six years, bringing Taiwan’s output value to more than NT$40 billion by 2030 and making the nation Asia’s democratic hub for the drone supply chain. The proposed budget has NT$33.8 billion in new allocations and NT$10.43 billion in existing funds, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Under the new development program, the public sector would purchase nearly 100,000 drones, of which 50,898 would be for civil and government use, while 48,750 would be for national defense, it said. The Ministry of
SENATE RECOMMENDATION: The National Defense Authorization Act encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s navy to participate in the exercises in Hawaii The US Senate on Thursday last week passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, which strongly encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s naval forces to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, as well as allocating military aid of US$1 billion for Taiwan. The bill, which authorizes appropriations for the military activities of the US Department of Defense, military construction and other purposes, passed with 77 votes in support and 20 against. While the NDAA authorizes about US$925 billion of defense spending, the Central News Agency yesterday reported that an aide of US
RSS