US President Joe Biden on Sunday ramped up his engagement with the continuing war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, convening a call with the leaders of Canada, France, Britain, Germany and Italy, and Pope Francis, after speaking to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The White House reported Biden’s separate calls with the Western leaders, Netanyahu and Pope Francis amid growing fears that the Israel-Gaza war could mushroom into a wider Middle East conflict as Israel pounded Gaza and clashes on its border with Lebanon intensified.
Biden and Netanyahu agreed on Sunday – after a second aid convoy reached Gaza from Egypt – that such help will continue, as Israel keeps attacking the Hamas-ruled territory, the White House said.
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Over 100 trucks at Egypt’s Rafah crossing wait to deliver aid into besieged Gaza Strip
Over 100 trucks at Egypt’s Rafah crossing wait to deliver aid into besieged Gaza Strip
“The leaders affirmed that there will now be continued flow of this critical assistance into Gaza,” the White House said after the two leaders spoke by telephone.
It was not immediately clear why Biden’s call with the Western leaders did not include Japan. Together those countries form the Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies. G7 finance ministers met in Morocco earlier this month and issued a statement.
Biden convened a virtual meeting of the G7 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Biden and Pope Francis discussed “the need to prevent escalation in the region and to work toward a durable peace in the Middle East,” the White House said.
The Vatican earlier said the call, which lasted about 20 minutes, “focused on conflict situations in the world and the need to identify paths to peace.”
Israel strikes Gaza, Syria and West Bank as war against Hamas threatens to ignite other fronts
Israel strikes Gaza, Syria and West Bank as war against Hamas threatens to ignite other fronts
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday said the US expects the Israel-Gaza war to escalate through involvement by proxies of Iran and asserted that the Biden administration is prepared to respond if American personnel or armed forces become the target of any such hostilities.
The warning from the high-ranking US officials came as Israel’s military response to a deadly October 7 attack by Hamas on civilians in communities in southern Israel entered its third week.
Blinken, appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press, noted that additional military assets had been deployed to the region, including two aircraft carrier battle groups, “not to provoke, but to deter, to make clear that if anyone tries to do anything, we’re there.”
The State Department on Sunday ordered non-essential US diplomats and their families at the US embassy in Iraq and the US consulate in Arbil to leave to the country due to the heightened tensions. In an updated message to Americans in Iraq, the department said the security situation in Iraq made it impossible to carry out normal operations.
“We are concerned at the possibility of Iranian proxies escalating their attacks against our own personnel, our own people,” Blinken said on CBS News. “We expect there is a likelihood of escalation.”
“No one should take advantage of this moment to escalate to further attacks on Israel or, for that matter, attacks on us on our personnel.”
Israel issues ‘terrorist accomplice’ warning to besieged Gaza residents
Israel issues ‘terrorist accomplice’ warning to besieged Gaza residents
Blinken said the United States, which has sent two carrier groups to the eastern Mediterranean, was “taking every measure to make sure that we can defend them. And if necessary, respond decisively.”
Austin, echoing Blinken, said “what we’re seeing is a prospect of a significant escalation of attacks on our troops and our people throughout the region.”
He said the US has the right to self-defence “and we won’t hesitate to take the appropriate action.”
French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Israel on Tuesday, the Elysee said on Sunday, confirming an announcement by the Israeli prime minister’s office earlier in the day.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will travel to Israel for talks on Monday with Netanyahu and separately with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Rutte’s office said on Sunday.
Reporting by Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse