Biden reiterates support for Israel

President Joe Biden said Friday there has been no shift in his commitment to Israel’s security, but insisted a two-state solution that includes a state for Palestinians remains “the only answer” to the conflict.

Biden spoke at a White House news conference on the first full day of a cease-fire after 11 days of Israeli-hamas fighting that killed well over 200 people, most of them Palestinians in Gaza.

Biden, speaking at the end of a visit by the president of South Korea, also played down the idea that the newly ended fighting had opened a rift among Democrats, as scores of Democrats split with Biden’s “quiet diplomacy” with ally Israel to publicly demand a cease-fire.

Biden, whose administration worked behind the scenes for days to reach a truce, said aid to the region would be coordinated with the Palestinian Authority Hamas’s Western-backed rival in the occupied West Bank - to ensure Hamas was not able to restock its military arsenal.

“My party still supports Israel,” Biden said.

He called for an end to intercommunal fighting by extremists on both sides, and said it was imperative to ensure security for Palestinians in the West Bank and help the people of Gaza.

“Let’s get something straight here: until the region says unequivocally they acknowledge the right of Israel to exist as an independent Jewish state, there will be no peace,” Biden told reporters at a joint news conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Israel and Hamas on Friday ended 11 days of fighting that killed 248 people and wounded 1,900.

Humanitarian officials say the damage to Gaza will take years to rebuild at a cost of tens of millions of dollars.