Biden: War will stop when Hamas can no longer murder Israelis

The US president also confirmed that Israel was trying to prevent civilian casualties as much as possible, and that Hamas was using hospitals as command centers.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

U.S. President Joe Biden made clear Wednesday that he still firmly backs Israel’s position that the ongoing war against Hamas cannot end until its capacity for attacking Israel is destroyed.

When asked at a press briefing whether he had given Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a deadline as to how long the U.S. would support Israel, considering that the Israeli officials said the war could take months or even years “and have created a humanitarian disaster,” Biden answered, “I think it’s going to stop when Hamas no longer maintains the capacity to murder and abuse and just do horrific things to the Israelis. And…at least as of this morning, they still thought they could.”

In possible reference to the reporter’s parroting of Hamas’ unsubstantiated claim of 11,000 dead, Biden acknowledged the use that the terror organization makes of civilians as human shields as a “terrible dilemma” for Israel, and praised its army for trying to avoid civilian casualties.

“The IDF, the Israeli Defense Forces, acknowledges they have an obligation to use as much caution as they can in going after their targets.  It’s not like they’re rushing in the hospital, knocking down doors, and, you know, pulling people aside and shooting people indiscriminately,” he said.

IDF units are currently carefully working through the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which Israel has proven to be one of the most important command centers for terrorist operations, emanating from the vast tunnel network Hamas created under the medical center.

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan had acknowledged Monday that Hamas is “violating the laws of war” by placing its headquarters under a hospital.

“I think that Israel is also taking risks themselves about their folks being killed one-to-one going through these hospital rooms, hospital halls,” Biden continued. “But one thing has been established is that Hamas does have headquarters, weapons, materiel below this hospital and, I suspect, others.”

The IDF has shown video evidence that Hamas used tunnels under the Rantisi Children’s Hospital to hold at least some of the 240 hostages it grabbed on October 7 when almost 3,000 terrorists invaded Gaza envelope communities and massacred 1,200 men, women, children and babies. Terrorist have also launched rockets at Israel from sites right next to hospitals, such as when the Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired one last month that failed and landed in the parking lot of the Al-Ahli Arabi Hospital.

The president clarified that he is not on board with all Israeli goals in the Gaza Strip.

While saying that he is “not a fortune-teller, I can’t tell you how long [the war] is going to last,” he added, “I can tell you I don’t think it ultimately ends until there’s a two-state solution.  I made it clear to the Israelis I think it’s a big mistake to — for them to think they’re going to occupy Gaza and maintain Gaza.  I don’t think that works.”

Israel’s war cabinet stated clearly on Saturday night that after the fall of Hamas, Israel would always retain full security freedom of action in the Gaza Strip and prevent the establishment of new terrorist infrastructures there, which includes the Palestinian Authority, as it has repeatedly proven its support for terrorism.

The war cabinet includes Benny Gantz, the head of the center-left National Unity party.

On the hostage issue, the president said he was “mildly hopeful” regarding some kind of hostage release, saying he’s been “deeply involved” in the negotiations and praising Qatar for its efforts in this area.

Biden was speaking at a press briefing after meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperative conference in California.

gaza stripHamasIDFJoe BidenOperation Iron SwordsTwo State Solution