President Biden held a meeting with the families of Americans who are being held hostage in Gaza at the White House on Wednesday. This meeting came a day after he made critical remarks about what he referred to as Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza.
The President stated that the nature of Israel’s attacks on Gaza was undermining the broad international support that it had previously received for its war on Hamas. He also mentioned that Palestinian civilians fleeing the fighting have been hit by airstrikes even in the places they have been told to seek refuge.
There is a growing divide between U.S. and Israeli leaders, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirming on Tuesday that the Palestinian Authority should not be involved in governing Gaza after the war, which contradicts the United States’ position.
Jake Sullivan, Mr. Biden’s national security adviser, announced that he would soon travel to Israel to discuss “timetables” for the end of the war and the American view that the Palestinian Authority should oversee Gaza and the West Bank.
The United States has expressed concern about Israel not doing enough to limit the human toll in Gaza. Despite this, the U.S. has continued to support Israel in the war, as evidenced by its sole vote against a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
The White House confirmed that President Biden would meet with the families of some of the estimated eight hostages with American citizenship being held in Gaza. This is his first in-person encounter with the relatives of the captives, after having previously spoken to them via video call.
Roughly 100 of the 240 hostages kidnapped on Oct 7. have been released, including some Americans.