President Joe Biden in the White House, February 13, 2024. (Shutterstock)
‘It is time to end this war,’ Biden says during hour-long press conference at NATO summit in Washington, while adding that Israel can still pursue Hamas leaders.
By World Israel News Staff
President Joe Biden called on Israel to end the war against the Hamas terror organization in the Gaza Strip Thursday, while adding that a permanent truce in Gaza would not preclude Israel from continuing to pursue senior Hamas leaders.
The president spoke for roughly an hour at the end of the NATO Summit in Washington Thursday, his first press conference since the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle two weeks earlier.
During the much-anticipated press briefing, the president fielded questions from reporters, including queries regarding the ongoing Gaza war and the president’s proposed framework for a ceasefire and hostage release.
Biden said that the war should be terminated, but said that an end to the war would not bar Israel from continuing to pursue Hamas leaders, including its Gaza chief and October 7th mastermind, Yahya Sinwar.
“It’s time to end this war,” Biden said. “It doesn’t mean walk away from going after Sinwar and Hamas.”
While the administration had hoped Thursday’s press conference would allay fears in the Democratic Party of Biden’s viability as a candidate following his gaffe-filled debate performance in late June, the president again stumbled several times in his remarks, confusing his Vice President, Kamala Harris, with his presumptive 2024 opponent, Donald Trump.
“I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president if she was not qualified to be president,” Biden said.
The president also appeared to confuse Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
After meeting with Zelensky, Biden introduced him to the audience as “President Putin.”
“And now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination, ladies and gentlemen, President Putin.”
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