U.S. President Joe Biden said in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, May 17, that he supports a cease-fire in the fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants.
The White House said, “The president expressed support for a cease-fire and discussed U.S. engagement with Egypt and other partners to (achieve) this end.”
The White House statement did not mention Netanyahu’s response to Biden.
Netanyahu on Saturday defended an Israeli airstrike that destroyed a 12-story building that housed international media, saying the attack was prompted by intelligence that the extremist group Hamas was using part of the building to plan a terrorist attack.
Netanyahu said employees in the building, including media outlets such as the Associated Press, had been given an hour’s notice to evacuate before the attack.
“This is the intelligence that we have,” Netanyahu said on the CBS Sunday program “Face the Nation.”
“(The building contains) the intelligence room of the Palestinian terrorist organization, which was located in this building and conspired to plan and organize terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians. Therefore, this is a perfectly legitimate target,” he explained.
On Monday, the White House said that during the call, Biden “encouraged Israel to make every effort to ensure the protection of innocent civilians.” And that “the president reiterated his strong support for Israel’s right to defend itself from indiscriminate rocket attacks.”
The White House said the two leaders also discussed progress in Israel’s military operations against Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki did not confirm Monday whether the Biden administration agreed with Israel’s intelligence assessment. She reiterated her call for both sides to reduce the escalation of violence.
“Our approach is to resolve the conflict (through) peaceful, intensive diplomacy,” Psaki told reporters at a news conference. “That’s the way we think we can be most effective.”
Last Sunday, Israel carried out an attack that leveled several homes in the Gaza Strip. The attack, the deadliest in the ongoing conflict, left at least 42 people dead. Meanwhile, Hamas fired more than 3,000 rockets that bombarded Israeli cities. On Monday, Israeli airstrikes on Gaza continued and Palestinian militants fired more rockets at Israeli cities.
Health officials in Gaza said at least 212 Palestinians, including 61 children and 36 women, have died in more than a week of fighting. Ten people, including two children, have been killed in Israel.
Earlier Monday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that officials across the government are “working around the clock” to end the violence.
The statement said the top U.S. diplomat has discussed the conflict with top international politicians, including Israel, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, France, the United Arab Emirates and Josep Borrell, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs.
Blinken also said Hady Amr, assistant to the U.S. deputy secretary of state for Israeli and Palestinian affairs, has traveled to be in the region.
Hamas armed forces have threatened to fire more rockets at Israel in retaliation for the strikes it has launched.
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