Biden Calls for ‘Pause’ in Israel-Hamas War to Allow Aid in and Trapped Civilians out of Gaza

TIME

The U.S. president has faced intensifying pressure from human rights groups, fellow world leaders and even liberal members of his own Democratic Party, who say that the Israeli bombardment of Gaza is collective punishment and that it is time for a cease-fire.

Transcript

00:00 Today, thanks to concerted American leadership,

00:03 we're in a situation where safe passage

00:07 for wounded Palestinians and foreign nationals

00:10 to exit Gaza has started.

00:12 American citizens are able to exit today

00:15 as part of the first group of probably over 1,000.

00:20 We'll see more of this process going on in the coming days.

00:23 Working nonstop to get Americans out of Gaza

00:26 as soon and as safely as possible.

00:29 This is a result of intense and urgent American diplomacy

00:34 with our partners in the region.

00:35 I personally spent a lot of time

00:38 speaking with the Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel

00:40 and President Sisi of Egypt and others

00:43 to make sure that we could open this access

00:46 for people to get out.

00:48 I want to thank our partners in the region,

00:49 and particularly Qatar, who've worked so closely with us

00:53 to support negotiations to facilitate

00:57 the departure of these citizens.

01:00 At the same time, we're continuing working

01:02 to significantly step up the flow

01:04 of critical humanitarian assistance into Gaza.

01:07 The number of trucks entering Gaza

01:10 continues to increase significantly,

01:12 but we still have a long way to go.

01:14 The United States is going to continue

01:16 to drive humanitarian support for innocent people in Gaza

01:20 who need help, and they do need help.

01:22 We're going to continue to affirm

01:24 that Israel has the right to --

01:26 responsibility to defend its citizens from terror,

01:29 and it needs to do so in a manner

01:31 that was consistent with international

01:32 and humanitarian law.

01:34 Look, the loss of every --

01:36 every innocent life is a tragedy.

01:39 We grieve for those deaths and continue to grieve

01:42 for the Israeli children and mothers

01:44 who are brutally slaughtered by Hamas terrorists,

01:46 and also continue to hold in our hearts

01:49 the hundreds of families and loved ones,

01:51 including small children and elderly grandparents,

01:54 including American citizens being held hostage.

01:57 My administration continues to work around the clock

02:00 to reunite those families.

02:02 We're not going to give up, period.

02:04 We're not going to give up.

02:06 (Applause.)

02:11 And I am optimistic, but then I am an optimist.

02:17 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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