President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are set to have their first phone call since an Israeli airstrike killed seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen in Gaza. Biden is said to be angry and increasingly frustrated about the incident and plans to express those feelings during the conversation with Netanyahu. Despite these frustrations, the White House has reiterated its support for Israel’s current military operation, emphasizing that there has been no shift in policy but rather a shift in the president’s frustrations.
The deaths of the aid workers will be a major topic of discussion during the call, as Biden is also expected to address other issues such as the need to better protect humanitarian workers in Gaza, ramping up humanitarian aid, ongoing hostage and ceasefire deal talks, and concerns about a potential ground incursion into Rafah. The Biden administration has been in communication with the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli government officials, demanding changes to the way information is transmitted about the location of aid workers. The president plans to communicate these demands to Netanyahu in no uncertain terms during the call.
Israel has taken responsibility for the attack, with Netanyahu acknowledging that innocent people were unintentionally struck in Gaza. Following the incident, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant instructed forces to maintain an open line of communication with international organizations and to coordinate aid distributions with the IDF’s Southern Command. Despite the intensifying rhetoric from the White House, the administration’s policy on Israel remains unchanged, with the country receiving steadfast support in the form of military aid.
In response to questions about why there have not been consequences for Israel after the strike, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre mentioned that tough conversations are ongoing with the Israeli government. The discussions between the two sides have been challenging, reflecting the Biden administration’s frustration with the incident. As tensions continue to simmer, it remains to be seen how the conversation between Biden and Netanyahu will unfold and if any changes will result from the fallout of the attack on the aid workers in Gaza.
