Biden says Gaza deaths harm Israel as aid vessel sails from US
US President Joe Biden has warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against further devastation in Gaza, as an American ship set sail for the enclave, part of an international plan to deliver aid by sea.
Mr Netanyahu “has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas”, Mr Biden said on Saturday, but “he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken”.
Further damage will end up “hurting Israel more than helping Israel”, he said. “You cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead,” he added.
The US has urged Israel to agree to a truce before Ramadan, which begins today, and has warned against an incursion into Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, where about 1.5 million people have taken refuge.
Mr Biden’s remarks come as the US joins a major international push to deliver thousands of tonnes of aid to Gaza by sea from Cyprus.
The Gen Frank S Besson support vessel left a naval base in Virginia yesterday “carrying the first equipment to establish a temporary pier to deliver vital humanitarian supplies”, US Central Command said.
The US last week announced plans to build a pier off the coast of Gaza.
Also yesterday, Centcom said it dropped more than 11,500 “meal equivalents” into Gaza, as well as rice, flour, pasta and canned goods, working with Jordan, Egypt, France and Belgium.
Aid agencies have said costly efforts to deliver aid into Gaza would not be needed if Israel would speed up the process for approving the passage of aid lorries over the border into the enclave.
Critics of Mr Biden and his administration have said the US has failed to use its influence, including billions of dollars in military aid, to force Israel to agree to a ceasefire and allow more aid into Gaza.
A Spanish NGO has announced that a boat laden with aid is “ready” to set sail from Cyprus, the first shipment along a maritime corridor that was expected to open yesterday.
The founder of the Open Arms NGO, Oscar Camps, said the ship would take two to three days to arrive from Larnaca, about 400km from Gaza.
Open Arms spokeswoman Laura Lanuza said Israeli authorities were inspecting the cargo of “200 tonnes of basic foodstuffs, rice and flour, cans of tuna”.
US charity World Central Kitchen, which is working with Open Arms, has teams in Gaza who are “constructing a dock” to unload the shipment, Ms Lanuza said.
In a social media post, a member of World Central Kitchen hailed the shipment as the “next step” in delivering aid to Gaza.