As Hamas continues attacks, Biden pushes ceasefire in Netanyahu call

A statement says the leaders spoke Monday, which was the eighth day of Palestinian terrorists in Gaza firing rockets at Israeli civilians.

By World Israel News Staff and AP

The White House says President Joe Biden has expressed “support” for a cease-fire during a call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A statement says the leaders spoke Monday, which was the eighth day of Palestinian terrorists in Gaza firing rockets at Israeli civilians.

Biden’s move signals U.S. pressure on Israel to wind down its defensive operations in response to Hamas attacks, although Biden’s comments fall short of joining Democratic Party demands for an immediate cease-fire.

The White House says the president reiterated his firm support for Israel’s right to defend itself against indiscriminate rocket attacks.

On Monday night, terrorists in Lebanon fired six rockets at Israel, which fell inside Lebanese territory.

The army said that Israeli artillery returned fire into southern Lebanon. Air raid sirens sounded in a kibbutz near the border, and residents were instructed to prepare bomb shelters.

The incident took place near the site of protests staged along the Lebanese border Friday. In one incident, protesters breached the border fence and entered Israeli territory. Israeli troops fatally shot a man whom the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah identified as one of its fighters.

On Monday, Netanyahu said Israel will “continue to strike terror targets” in the Gaza Strip.

In an address after meeting with top defense officials, Netanyahu said Monday that Israel will “continue to operate as long as necessary in order to return calm and security to all Israeli citizens.”

The fighting broke out May 10, when Hamas fired long-range rockets at Jerusalem after weeks of clashes in the holy city instigated by Palestinian rioters who attacked Israeli police.

French President Emmanuel Macron says he will have talks with Netanyahu in the coming days about the airstrike that destroyed a Gaza building that housed The Associated Press (AP) and other media outlets, which the Israeli military said housed Hamas intelligence unit offices.

During Hamas’ 2014 war with Israel, ex-AP reporter Mati Friedman warned that Hamas terrorists fired rockets next to journalists.

“The AP staff in Gaza City would witness a rocket launch right beside their office, endangering reporters and other civilians nearby—and the AP wouldn’t report it, not even in AP articles about Israeli claims that Hamas was launching rockets from residential areas,” said Friedman,

Friedman continued, “Hamas fighters would burst into the AP’s Gaza bureau and threaten the staff—and the AP wouldn’t report it. … Cameramen waiting outside Shifa Hospital in Gaza City would film the arrival of civilian casualties and then, at a signal from an official, turn off their cameras when wounded and dead fighters came in, helping Hamas maintain the illusion that only civilians were dying. (This too happened; the information comes from multiple sources with firsthand knowledge of these incidents.)”

Friedman also added that AP spokesman Paul Colford “confirmed that armed [terrorists] entered the AP’s Gaza office in the early days of the [2014] war to complain about a photo showing the location of a rocket launch, though he said that Hamas claimed that the men ‘did not represent the group.’”