US President Joe Biden, in a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanded that the leaders of the negotiating team be allowed to conclude an agreement on the return of the hostages. The TV channel reported this on Thursday, April 4. Kan.
The politicians' conversation was described as tense and included Biden's call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as part of an agreement with Hamas.
The American president also demanded that those responsible for the murder of seven workers of the humanitarian organization World Central Kitchen (WCK) be brought to justice and said that Israel is not making enough efforts to ensure the protection of the civilian population of Gaza.
Netanyahu responded by discussing the main points of the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) investigation into the incident with WCK employees.
Earlier this day, it was reported that US Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin, during a conversation with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant, expressed outrage after the IDF attack on the WCK convoy. Austin called on his Israeli counterpart to conduct a quick and transparent investigation, and then share his findings publicly and bring those responsible to justice.
The IDF struck a WCK charity convoy on April 2. Among the dead are seven employees of this NGO from the UK, Australia, Poland, Palestine, as well as another with dual citizenship of the USA and Canada. They traveled in two armored vehicles with the WCK logo through the “de-conflict zone” of the enclave. This was agreed upon with the Israeli army. After the attack, the organization suspended work in the region.
Netanyahu on the same day called the incident a tragic incident and stressed that the IDF struck innocent people unintentionally. President Isaac Herzog, in a conversation with WCK founder José Andrés, apologized for the death of the organization's workers in the Gaza Strip. The Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, expressed outrage over the incident.
The situation in the Middle East escalated on October 7 last year, when the Palestinian Hamas movement subjected Israel to massive rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, and also invaded the border areas in the south of the country and took hostages. On the same day, the Israeli side began retaliating against targets in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinians are seeking to return the borders between the two countries to the lines that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War. Palestine wants to create its own state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and make East Jerusalem its capital. Israel refuses the conditions set.
#Biden #demanded #Netanyahu #give #powers #negotiating #team
