US President Joe Biden warned Tuesday of a “very, very dangerous” situation without a Gaza ceasefire deal by Ramadan, adding that it was up to Hamas to accept a deal as talks continue in Cairo.
As the US military made its second airdrop of aid to Gaza, Biden also told ally Israel there were “no excuses” for failing to allow more aid into the Palestinian enclave where the UN warns famine is looming.
Biden’s comments came as US frustration grows both with Israel over Gaza’s aid needs and spiralling civilian death toll, but also with Hamas for stalling on conditions including the release of hostages.
“It’s in the hands of Hamas right now,” Biden, 81, told reporters as he flew back to the White House from the Camp David presidential retreat in the hills of Maryland. “The Israelis have been cooperating, the offer [of a ceasefire] is rational. We’ll know in a couple of days. But we need the ceasefire.”
He added: “There’s got to be a ceasefire because Ramadan – if we get into circumstances where this continues to Ramadan, Israel and Jerusalem could be very, very dangerous.”
Ramadan will start on March 10 or 11, depending on the lunar calendar.
Biden did not elaborate, but the United States last week urged Israel to allow Muslims to worship at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem during Ramadan, after a far-right minister proposed barring Palestinians from the occupied West Bank.
Israel said on Tuesday that it will allow as many Muslim worshippers to access the mosque during the first week of Ramadan as in previous years.
Gaza civilian deaths test Israel’s AI precision claims
Gaza civilian deaths test Israel’s AI precision claims
“In the first week of Ramadan, worshippers will be allowed to enter the Temple Mount, in similar numbers to those in previous years,” a statement from the prime minister’s office said, using the Jewish term for the site.
“Every week there will be a situation assessment in terms of security and safety and a decision will be made accordingly,” it added.
Biden faces acute political pressure in an election year over his support for Israel amid Gaza’s soaring civilian death toll, which the health ministry there has put at 30,631, mostly women and children.
Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas after its unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of around 1,160 people, according to an Agence France-Presse tally of official figures
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Israeli forces open fire on crowd of Palestinians seeking aid,, as Gaza death toll surpasses 30,000
Israeli forces open fire on crowd of Palestinians seeking aid,, as Gaza death toll surpasses 30,000
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken separately called on Hamas to accept an “immediate ceasefire” with Israel as the militants met Qatari and Egyptian mediators in Cairo.
“It is on Hamas to make decisions about whether it is prepared to engage in that ceasefire,” he said as he met the Qatari prime minister in Washington.
While Washington publicly put the onus on Hamas to agree a ceasefire, it has become increasingly frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to rein in the offensive or let in aid.
US cargo planes airdropped more than 36,000 meals to Gaza on Tuesday in a joint operation with Jordan, the US military said. It is the second such operation since Biden gave the order last week in the wake of a horrific incident in which more than 100 people were killed in chaotic scenes around a convoy of aid trucks in Gaza City.
Many bullet wounds among injured Gazans after aid convoy deaths, says UN
Many bullet wounds among injured Gazans after aid convoy deaths, says UN
Biden also brushed off suggestions of tensions with Netanyahu, after Benny Gantz, one of Netanyahu’s rivals in the Israeli war cabinet, visited the White House on Monday for talks with US Vice-President Kamala Harris.
On Tuesday former military chief Gantz met US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon and Blinken at the State Department.
Biden said his relationship with Netanyahu was “like it’s always been”.
Democrat Biden and right-winger Netanyahu have often been at odds during the four decades in which their political paths have crossed, but Biden has stuck by Israel during its war with Hamas.
