During Biden’s speech at a campaign fundraising event, a man interrupted the Democratic president, saying, “As a rabbi, I ask you to call for an immediate ceasefire,” according to Agence France-Presse.
The 80-year-old president, who is seeking a second term in elections scheduled for next year, responded, “I think we need a pause. The pause means allowing time to extract the prisoners.”
In response to a question about Biden’s statement, the White House said that what the president meant by the word “prisoners” were the hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
In defending his position during this war, Biden said, “I was the one who convinced Bibi (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) to call for a ceasefire to release the prisoners. I was the one who spoke to (Egyptian President Abdel Fattah) Al-Sisi to persuade him to open the door” of the Rafah crossing, which connects southern sector in Egypt.
Commenting on this aspect of the US President’s statement, the White House said that Biden meant the two American hostages who were recently released by the Hamas movement.
To this day, the United States refuses to call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, considering that this matter would be exclusively in the interest of the Palestinian movement.
However, the US administration has repeatedly called for “humanitarian truces” to allow aid to enter the Gaza Strip and remove those trapped there.
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