While the White House announced today, Wednesday, that President Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu four times about the need to de-escalate the ongoing conflict between the Israeli army and Gaza for the past nine days, Netanyahu confirmed his insistence on continuing military operations until their objectives are achieved and calm is restored.
Netanyahu expressed his commitment to continue, stating, "I just came from the main war operations room of the Israel Defense Forces and got a very strong impression of what is happening there... Every day we strike more capabilities of the terrorist organizations, thwart more of their senior leaders, take down more towers of terror, and hit more arms depots." He added, "As I said today to the ambassadors, this is Israel's natural right... I expressed my deep appreciation for the support of these governments and especially value the support of the American president for Israel's right to defend itself." He continued, "I will continue this operation until its goal is achieved, which is to restore calm and security."
Criticism has been rising from a wide range of Democratic members in the United States against President Biden for not exerting enough pressure on Israel to reduce the escalation and violent raids on Gaza. Meanwhile, a former U.S. Secretary of State stated that his country is making efforts to push for a ceasefire discreetly, without explicit public announcements.
Israeli officials told Axios that discussions on a ceasefire might gain momentum in the next 24 hours, but they anticipated that any ceasefire would be fragile and collapse quickly.
An Israeli military source stated earlier today that Israel is conducting an assessment to determine if the conditions for a "ceasefire" are met, although it is preparing for "more days" of action against armed factions in Gaza. The source told reporters, according to Agence France-Presse, "We are looking for the right time to cease fire," but also that "we are also preparing for more days."
Netanyahu asserted that the ongoing intense airstrikes on Gaza for more than a week aim to "crush Hamas," if deterrence fails. He added in a press conference, "There are only two ways to deal with Hamas, either to crush them, which is always an open possibility, or to deter them, and we are currently engaged in strong deterrence."
It is noteworthy that since May 10, 241 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, including dozens of children, and thousands have been injured, according to the latest statistics from the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Meanwhile, 12 people have died on the Israeli side, and 309 have been injured.
