Biden hopes for quick end to Israel-Palestinian strife 2 minutes read
Washington, May 12 (EFE).- US President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he was hopeful the current round of hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians was approaching an end.
“My expectation and hope is this will be closing down sooner than later, but Israel has a right to defend itself,” he told reporters at the White House following a telephone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The leader of the United States, which annually provides more than $3 billion a year in aid to Israel, commented hours after Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the deputy assistant secretary for Israel and Palestinian affairs would be traveling to the region.
Netanyahu says Israel will escalate military campaign against Hamas
Shira Rubin and Steve Hendrix, The Washington Post
May 12, 2021
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Smoke billows following an Israeli air strike on targets in Gaza City early on May 12, 2021 (Photo by Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images
TEL AVIV, Israel - Civilians in Israel and the Gaza Strip endured a third day of deadly rocket attacks and airstrikes on Wednesday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying his government planned to further escalate its military campaign against the militant Hamas group.
Amid the worst violence between Israel and Palestinian militants in years, the Israeli cabinet convened to discuss expanding the Gaza operation. Netanyahu said Israel had rejected requests from Hamas to negotiate a cease-fire and estimated that the Gaza operation would last at least another week.
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As the Israel Defense Forces conduct operations against Palestinian fighters firing hundreds of rockets in the midst of a severe intensification of the decades-long conflict, Israeli troops are also keeping a watchful eye on the country s other borders, including in the north with Lebanon, where another powerful enemy lies Hezbollah. As always, we re watching those areas, both the Syrian front, as well as the Blue Line with Lebanon, IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus told
Newsweek during a press briefing on Wednesday, and we re tracking Hezbollah movements, and we re tracking activities in Syria as well.
Benjamin (Bibi) NetanyahuMORE amid an outbreak of deadly violence between Israel and Hamas.
“I had a conversation for a while with the prime minister of Israel, and, I think, my hope is that we’ll see this coming to conclusion sooner than later,” the president said during remarks to the press about the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The president said his national security and defense staff have been in “constant contact” with their counterparts in the Middle East, including the Israelis but also the Egyptians, Saudis and Emiratis.
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Egypt, which maintains a border with the Gaza Strip, previously helped implement a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, the militant Islamic group that controls the blockaded territory. The group has been on the U.S. State Department s list of Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations since 1997.
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Hamas says more than 100 rockets fired at Israel
Hamas says it has launched over 100 rockets at Israel so far on Monday. The most recent barrage of rockets have targeted Ashkelon, a city that lies fairly close to the Gaza Strip s northern border.