President Biden delivered a blunt message Thursday to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: America’s patience with its ally’s campaign against Hamas terrorists in Gaza is not infinite.
Mr. Biden told the prime minister the humanitarian situation in Gaza is “unacceptable” and that Israel needs to implement a series of “specific, concrete, and measurable steps” to limit civilian casualties and protect relief agencies.
The U.S. president gave the warning in the first call between the two leaders following an errant Israeli airstrike this week that killed seven international aid workers in the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
Mr. Biden “made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps,” the White House said in its readout of the approximately 30-minute call.
“He underscored that an immediate cease-fire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the prime minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home,” the White House said.
Mr. Biden in the call backed an immediate cease-fire in Gaza to bring home the estimated 100 or so hostages still held by Hamas.
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The president also said he supports Israel in the face of threats from Iran, according to the White House readout.
The blunt discussion came as historically close U.S.-Israeli relations are facing unprecedented stresses and the Netanyahu government is facing rising criticism from Washington and capitals around the world.
Mr. Netanyahu has said he is determined to pursue a major new military campaign against Hamas fighters holed up in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, despite explicit warnings from Washington that the offensive could result in massive new civilian casualties.
Israeli officials say the Rafah campaign is needed to defeat Hamas and avenge the Oct. 7 terror rampage that killed some 1,200 Israelis and led to the capture of hundreds of hostages.
The Netanyahu government did not immediately release its version of what was discussed in Thursday’s call.
U.S. bomb shipment
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The Biden administration was further embarrassed by news reports Thursday that the deadly April 1 strike on World Central Kitchen workers — which Israel insists was unintentional and which it promised to investigate — came on the same day the State Department approved a major new shipment of MK82 500-pound bombs for the Israel Defense Forces.
Mr. Biden was already under severe pressure from his left-wing liberal base over the strong U.S. support for Israel in the war against Hamas, and the timing of the new weapons authorization will only increase the political headache for the president.
The latest shipment was part of a previously approved annual military aid package to Israel worth nearly $4 billion and won’t be delivered until next year.
But progressive critics say Mr. Biden has failed to use his authority to scale back or cancel the weapons pipeline to Israel as the devastation inside Gaza mounts.
White House officials declined Thursday to specify what moves might be taken against Israel if the Netanyahu government fails to change course.
The U.S. is Israel’s main source of military aid and Washington often blocks moves targeting the Jewish state in the United Nations and other world bodies, and some of Mr. Biden’s fellow Democrats have proposed an embargo or new use restrictions on weapons to pressure Jerusalem.
“This week’s horrific attack on World Central Kitchen was not the first such incident,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters Thursday while on a visit to Brussels for a NATO gathering. “It must be the last.”
Mr. Blinken, with Vice President Kamala Harris and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, dialed in remotely to take part in the leaders’ call.
Demand for probe
Officials at the World Central Kitchen, founded by famed Washington-based chef Jose Andres, said an investigation by Israel itself into the fatal airstrike was not sufficient.
“This was a military attack that involved multiple strikes and targeted three WCK vehicles,” the group said in a statement Thursday. “An independent investigation is the only way to determine the truth of what happened, ensure transparency and accountability for those responsible, and prevent future attacks on humanitarian aid workers.”
Mr. Biden’s national security team has stepped up its rhetoric over Israel’s handling of the war as Mr. Netanyahu has dug in against American criticism.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant in a separate phone call this week that he was “outraged” by the World Central Kitchen incident, the Pentagon said in a readout of the call.
“Secretary Austin stressed the need to immediately take concrete steps to protect aid workers and Palestinian civilians in Gaza after repeated coordination failures with foreign aid groups,” Pentagon spokesman Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, told reporters Thursday.
“Secretary Austin urged Minister Gallant to conduct a swift and transparent investigation, to share their conclusions publicly, and to hold those responsible to account,” Maj. Gen. Ryder said.
The incident reinforced the Defense Department’s concern over any Israeli military operation in Rafah, specifically focusing on the need to ensure the evacuation of Palestinian civilians and the flow of humanitarian aid.
Despite criticizing the air strike on the aid convoy, Gen. Ryder said that, to his knowledge, the Pentagon hadn’t seen a detailed plan for Israel’s strategy to take Rafah, a city in southern Gaza where multiple Hamas battalions are believed to be operating.
Mr. Biden himself spoke Wednesday with Mr. Andres about the incident.
Israel’s unity War Cabinet was briefed on the preliminary findings of the Israel Defense Forces probe into the strike, but no details on the probe have been released, the Times of Israel reported.
Israeli officials have acknowledged the attack was a “grave mistake,” but Mr. Netanyahu also observed that “these things happen in war.”
Kirby threatens changes
The Israeli prime minister’s worries include more than just the Gaza campaign and relations with the country’s most powerful ally.
The IDF says it is bracing for possible retaliation from Iran after an airstrike in Syria this week — widely believed to have been carried out by Israel — killed two senior commanders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and five other military officers at Tehran’s consulate in Damascus.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed Wednesday that Israel would receive a “slap in the face” for the attack, and U.S. officials say American troops in the region are on high alert for possible retaliatory strikes from Tehran or Iran-allied militant groups across the Middle East.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said after the call that the U.S. message was that changes had to be made in Israel’s policies in Gaza.
He said Washington hopes to see evidence of the changes in “the coming hours and days.”
“If there’s no changes to [Israeli] policy in their approaches, then there’s going to have to be changes to ours,” Mr. Kirby told reporters at the White House. “There are things that need to be done. There are too many civilians being killed.”
Asked directly whether Thursday’s call stemmed directly from the World Central Kitchen strike, Mr. Kirby offered a one-word answer: “Yes.”
• Tom Howell Jr. and Mike Glenn contributed to this report.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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