Joe Biden.Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
PresidentJoe Bidenexpressed hope on Thursday after Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement amid another stretch of violence in recent weeks.
“I believe we have a genuine opportunity to make progress, and I’m committed to working for it,” Biden, 78, said inbrief remarksat the White House.
The most recent conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group in control of Gaza, lasted 11 days and resulted in hundreds of deaths, as images of a barrage of rockets being shot back-and-forth between the two were shared worldwide.
At least 230 Palestinians died, while 12 died in Israel, the Associated Pressreported. Tens of thousands of Palestinian residents were displaced as Israeli rockets destroyed city buildings and homes.
“These hostilities have resulted in the tragic deaths of so many civilians, including children,” Biden said. “I sent my sincere condolences to all the families, Israeli and Palestinian, who have lost loved ones, and my hope for a full recovery for the wounded.”
Joe Biden.NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images
Biden and the White House backed what they called Israel’s position of “protecting their people” from Hamas' attacks throughout the conflict, while the president made little-to-no comment on the matter to the media over the last week and a half.
On Wednesday, Biden called on Netanyahu to make a “significant de-escalation” in the fighting and promised to send humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, where the most lives were lost.
Israeli air-strike hits Al-Jalaa Tower in Gaza.Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty
Israeli police use tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse Palestinians at the al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem on Monday.Eyad Tawil/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
This month’s conflict was the deadliest in the region since 2014 and violence between Israel and Hamas dates back to the 1980s, when Hamas was formed,accordingtoThe New York Times.
Biden said he is “deeply concerned that without meaningful progress towards a two-state future, the conditions of despair will deepen, further fuel extremism and lead to a tragic renewal of the cycle of violence.”
But Biden also expressed hope for the region, after the world watched the conflict unfold.
“I believe the Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve to live safely and securely, and to enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity and democracy,” Biden said. “My administration will continue our quiet, relentless diplomacy toward that end.”
source: people.com
