Photo: Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu/REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday, August 21, urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire agreement with Hamas in Gaza, as peace talks in the Gaza Strip have stalled.
The U.S. and Israeli leaders spoke by phone hours after Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended a tour of the Middle East aimed at reaching an agreement amid rising tensions in the region, Agence France-Presse reports.
In a statement posted on Platform X, Biden said he “has made it clear that we must agree to a ceasefire and hostage release.” Additionally, Biden discussed with Netanyahu “the upcoming negotiations in Cairo to remove remaining obstacles.”
He also briefed Netanyahu on “U.S. efforts to support Israel's defense against threats from Iran and its satellite terrorist groups.” ;, after Tehran threatened to take revenge for the killing of a senior Hamas leader in Tehran.
The White House said separately that the US president “stressed the urgency” of reaching a deal.
The US president was set to discuss with Netanyahu Israel's demand to retain control of the Philadelphi Corridor, the border between Gaza and Egypt that Israeli forces recaptured from Hamas.
Israel says Hamas is using the tunnels to smuggle in weapons.
Biden has stood by Israel since the October 7 attack on the southern part of the country by Hamas militants, with the US sending huge amounts of military aid to its ally to achieve what Netanyahu has described as the destruction of the Palestinian militant group.
But relations between the US and Israeli leaders have now become strained, with Biden calling on Israel to reduce civilian casualties.
The October 7 attack on southern Israel left 1,199 people dead, most of them civilians, according to AFP data based on figures released by the Israeli government.
The military campaign Israel launched in response to the attack has killed 40,223 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-ruled enclave's Health Ministry, which does not provide details on the number of civilian and militant casualties. The UN Human Rights Office says most of the dead are women and children.
Palestinian militants also took 251 hostages, of whom 105 remain in Gaza, including 34 people the military says are no longer alive.
Prepared by: Sergei Daga