IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE
President Biden warns Israeli PM Netanyahu over aid workers & civilians as he calls for...
JOE Biden last night called for a ceasefire in Gaza and warned Benjamin Netanyahu that US support in the war depends on Israel taking concrete steps to protect aid workers and civilians.
The pair spoke by phone yesterday, days after Israeli airstrikes killed seven aid workers in Gaza, adding a new layer of complication to their increasingly strained relationship.
The White House said in a statement: “He [Biden] made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers.
“He made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.”
The President also told Israeli PM Netanyahu that an “immediate ceasefire is essential” and urged Israel to reach a deal without delay.
It comes as the head of aid organisation the World Central Kitchen, whose workers were killed, said they were deliberately targeted. Three British men were among the dead.
Israeli troops ordered a drone hit first on one car, then on a second and finally on the third as it fled on Monday evening.
TARGETED
The three British victims were John Chapman, 57, James Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47, who were working as security for WCK.
WCK founder chef Jose Andres claimed troops knew his workers’ movements and targeted them “systematically, car by car”. He said: “This was not just a bad luck situation where ‘oops’ we dropped the bomb in the wrong place.
“This was over 1.5km, 1.8km, with a very defined humanitarian convoy that had signs in the top, in the roof, a very colourful logo. It’s clear who we are and what we do.”
Israel’s economy minister Nir Barkat dismissed Mr Andres’ comments as “nonsense”, adding: “Unfortunately, in wars friendly fire happens.” WCK demanded an independent investigation.
On the aid worker attack, Sir Alex Younger, a former head of MI6, said Israel’s approach to targeting had, on occasion, bordered on the reckless.
Separately, a Human Rights Watch investigation said an Israeli attack on a Gaza building in October had no apparent militant target, but killed 106 civilians, including 54 children, making it an “apparent war crime.”
It said four separate missile strikes collapsed the Engineer’s Building in central Gaza, which was housing some 350 people.
The dead included children playing football outside and residents charging phones in a grocery store.
Thirty-four women, 18 men and 54 children were killed in the strike, according to the group, which says it corroborated its list of the dead with Airwars, a UK conflict monitor.
Israel’s Gaza campaign has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians since the Hamas massacre that killed 1,200 people on October 7.
This was not just bad luck where ‘oops’ we dropped the bomb in the wrong place
JOSE ANDRES FOUNDER OF WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN