WOODSIDE, California: US President Joe Biden on Wednesday (Nov 15) said he had made it clear to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a two-state solution was the only answer to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict and that occupying Gaza would be “a big mistake”.
Biden told reporters he was doing everything in his power to free hostages held by the Hamas militant group in Gaza, but that did not mean sending in the US military.
The US president had told reporters this week that his message to the hostages was “hang in there, we’re coming”, raising questions about what he meant.
Asked to clarify the comment, Biden told a news conference: “What I meant was, I’m doing everything in my power to get you out. Coming to help you, get you out. I don’t mean sending in military in there … I was not talking about the military.”
Biden said he was working on the issue constantly, and would not stop until the hostages – including a three-year-old American child – were freed.
Qatar, where Hamas operates a political office, has been leading mediation between the militant group and Israeli officials for the release of more than 240 hostages. They were taken by militants when they stormed into Israel on Oct 7. Israel says 1,200 people were killed during the rampage.
Israel then launched an unrelenting bombardment of Hamas-ruled Gaza and late last month began an invasion of the enclave, where more than 11,000 people have been killed, about 40 per cent of them children with more buried under the rubble, according to Palestinian officials.
Biden said Hamas was committing war crimes by having its military headquarters under a hospital, repeating a statement made by a White House spokesperson on Tuesday, and he was confident about the US intelligence supporting that “fact”.
