Biden is threatening to affect U.S. policy
U.S. aid to the World Central Kitchen workers is not helping Hamas: President Biden’s outrage against the Israeli government
The president is evidently coming under pressure even from within his own family. Mr Biden told Muslim community leaders at the White House on Tuesday that the first lady had told him to stop.
The killing of the World Central Kitchen workers has inflamed the tensions between Washington and Jerusalem at a time when Mr. Biden has complained that Israel has not done enough to curb the killings of civilians or facilitate the provision of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Mr. Biden called himself “outraged and heartbroken” over the incident and made a point of calling José Andrés, the celebrity chef who founded World Central Kitchen, to express his condolences.
As of Thursday morning, the Israelis had not yet communicated any initial findings of their promised investigation into the strike to the United States, according to a senior Biden administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail internal conversations.
“The investigation’s findings indicate that the incident should not have occurred,” the military said in its statement. Those who approved the strike were convinced that the strike was for Hamas operatives. The strike on the aid vehicles is a grave mistake due to a mistake in decision-making, an attack that is contrary to the standard operating procedures, and a mistaken identification.
Ben Rhodes, a former deputy national security adviser to Mr. Obama wrote on social media that the U.S. government supplied 2 thousand pound bombs and ammunition to support Israel. This outrage does nothing until there are consequences. Bibi obviously doesn’t care what the U.S. says, its about what the U.S. does.”
President Biden threatened on Thursday to condition future support for Israel on how it addresses his concerns about civilian casualties and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, attempting for the first time to leverage American aid to influence the conduct of the war against Hamas.
The Israeli-Israel War and Israel’s Insistence on a Two-State Solution to the Palestinian Conflict: A Call from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
“We will know how to defend ourselves,” he added, “and we will operate according to the simple principle by which those who attack us or plan to attack us — we will attack them.”
In a separate video statement, he focused on the threat he sees from Iran. He said that Israel is acting against Iran and its proxies because they have been acting against them for years.
“There is a contrary move, an attempt to force, ram down our throats a Palestinian state, which will be another terror haven, another launching ground for an attempt, as was the Hamas state in Gaza,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “That is opposed by Israelis, overwhelmingly.”
Mr. Netanyahu did not immediately release a description of the call, but in other comments on Thursday appeared unbowed. In a meeting in Jerusalem with visiting Republicans, the prime minister pushed back against Mr. Biden’s insistence on a two state solution to the Palestinian conflict.
Mr. Coons said on CNN on Thursday that if Mr. Netanyahu ordered the Israeli military into the Gaza Strip, there would be a battalion dispatched to go after Hamas.
The call between Mr. Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel was tense, but Mr. Biden continued his campaign for change in the military operation that has caused outrage in the US and around the world. But the White House stopped short of directly saying the president would halt arms supplies or impose conditions for their use, as fellow Democrats have urged him to do.
But Mr. Kirby would not outline specific metrics for judging Israel’s response or what Mr. Biden would do if not satisfied. Changes from our side are necessary if we don’t see real changes on the Israeli side.
The Israeli Military Investigated the World Central Kitchen “Trajectory” and a Commission to Investigate “Serious Violation” of Military Operating Procedures”
Senior military officers would be reprimanded and dismissed after Israel’s investigation found that Tuesday’s strikes were “in serious violation” of military operating procedures.
World Central Kitchen welcomed the Israeli military investigation and disciplinary action against military officials, but it called for an “independent commission” to investigate the strikes.
Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the army, and Yoav Har- Even, head of the military’s unit that investigates allegations of wrongdoing, spoke to reporters late Thursday about the mistakes that led to the strikes.
When a three-car convoy left a warehouse, the soldiers thought they were seeing a rifle in a vehicle, but it turns out it was a bag.
The military said that their aerial cameras were not able to identify the World Central Kitchen logo on the roof because it was late at night.
A commander “mistakenly assumed that the gunmen were located inside the accompanying vehicles and that these were Hamas terrorists,” the military said in a written statement Friday. “The forces did not identify the vehicles in question as being associated with WCK.”
The statement said two officers were dismissed over the incident, the brigade fire support commander, a major, and the brigade chief of staff, a reserve colonel.
The military said it had briefed World Central Kitchen on the findings. It expressed “deep sorrow” for the deaths of the seven aid workers and said it would continue to coordinate international aid activities and protect aid workers’ lives.
World Central Kitchen said in its response that the root cause of the rocket fire was the lack of food in Gaza. “Israel needs to dramatically increase the volume of food and medicine traveling by land if it is serious about supporting humanitarian aid.”
The resolution comes amid a growing focus on weapons shipments to Israel — notably by its strongest backer, the United States — as Israel continues its military campaign in Gaza.
While not binding, the resolution will put pressure on Israel to end its offensive in Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of Palestinians.
The countries of the western world were at odds. The U.S. and Germany opposed the resolution, France and Japan abstained, while Belgium, Finland and Luxembourg voted in favor.
The council president was interrupted by applause as he read the results. Israel’s ambassador said she would not attend the rest of the day’s session and called the resolution a “stain on the Human Rights Council and the United Nations as a whole.”
The council has abandoned the Israeli people and defended Hamas, said Eilon Shahar. “It has become a shield for terrorists. It has turned a blind eye to any acts of violence against Israelis and Jews.”
She was displeased that European countries that backed the measure, calling out Belgium, Luxembourg andFinland, did not condemn Hamas.
She told reporters after the vote that Israel appeared in the resolution 59 times. “Hamas is not there at all.”
Speaking in Arabic, Khraishi alluded to the genocide of Jews in Europe last century, saying: “We were not responsible, but we have been paying the price of what was done during the Second World War.”
The First Session of the United Nations Human Rights Working Group (HGRC) – Report on Israel’s “Democracy”
Israel has criticized the council frequently for its alleged anti-Israel bias. The council has approved far more resolutions against Israel for its actions toward Palestinians over the years than against any other country.
The council is wrapping up its first session of the year, which began on Feb. 26, with action on more than 40 resolutions on subjects as diverse as the rights of the child; the environment and human rights; genocide prevention; and rights situations in countries like Sudan, Belarus and North Korea.
It was the first time Biden had threatened to withdraw his support if Israel did not allow more aid into Gaza.
Israel has not done enough to reduce civilian harm, according to the U.S. ambassador, who pointed out that the humanitarian workers from the World Central Kitchen were killed this week.
The resolution had “many problematic elements — too many to name in full,” she said, while noting a lack of “specific condemnation of Hamas for perpetrating the horrific Oct. 7 attacks” in Israel.
