April 3, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

President Joe Biden “expressed his commitment to continue working to secure an immediate ceasefire as part of a deal to free the hostages and significantly increase humanitarian aid into Gaza,” during a contentious meeting with Muslim leaders at the White House Tuesday, the White House said Wednesday.

Biden hosted the leaders to discuss Gaza, but the meeting was upended after the sole Palestinian-American participant – Dr. Thaer Ahmad, who has traveled to Gaza to treat wounded civilians – walked out in protest after handing Biden a letter from an 8-year-old orphan girl living in Rafah.

Pressed on Ahmad’s decision to leave the meeting early, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to respond directly, citing participants’ request to keep the meeting private.

CNN has reported that Tuesday’s meeting was originally supposed to take the form of an iftar fast-breaking dinner in honor of Ramadan, but that attendees pushed back, saying it would be inappropriate to talk about the crisis over dinner while people in Gaza are starving.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called the response from Israel after the strikes that killed several aid workers in Gaza "unacceptable and insufficient."  

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli authorities were thoroughly investigating the incident which he said involved Israeli forces "unintentionally" striking "innocent people in the Gaza Strip." 

Speaking at a news conference in Doha on Wednesday, Sanchez said countries are keen for more details on "the reason for the bombing," because the "government of Israel knew of the action and itinerary of this NGO in Gaza." 

Spain has been one of the strongest critics of Israel's war in Gaza, with Sanchez repeatedly calling on Israel to agree to a ceasefire and allow desperately needed humanitarian aid to enter the enclave. 

The US has had several conversations with humanitarian aid organizations who said they are concerned about the Israeli strike on World Central Kitchen workers, according to the State Department.

Miller said the aid groups have said they want the Israeli government to "do better" and that the US has pushed the Israeli government to do so.

The United States State Department said the deadly Israeli strike on a World Central Kitchen convoy is “unacceptable,” no matter the reason.

Spokesperson Matthew Miller noted the Israel Defense Forces called the strike “a misidentification,” which he interpreted as "that while they were targeting those cars, they did not believe that it was the World Central Kitchen that was operating those vehicles at the time.”

“That said, we need to wait and see the outcome of this investigation to know with any confidence what it was that happened,” he said.

Miller also said Israeli officials "don't have to wait for the outcome of this investigation to ... put in place better deconfliction and better coordination measures to protect humanitarian workers and to protect all the civilians on the ground."

Pier plans unaffected: Despite the strike, the US is still working on constructing a pier to deliver aid to Gaza, Miller said.

“That effort is ongoing. The Pentagon is working hard on that,” he said. “We want to get that stood up as soon as possible.” He did note that “the real question is being able to distribute” aid into Gaza once it reaches the strip, either by land or sea.

The founder of World Central Kitchen accused Israel of systematically targeting the seven aid workers from his organization who were killed in Gaza this week. 

In a Reuters interview, founder chef José Andrés said that it was not a "bad luck situation where, 'oops,' we dropped the bomb in the wrong place."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israeli forces "unintentionally struck innocent people," and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said the strike was a "grave mistake."

A United Nations aid agency is suspending its movements at night for at least 48 hours, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday.

The move, impacting the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), will be used to assess security concerns impacting humanitarian work in the region, Dujarric said.

It comes after seven World Central Kitchen aid workers were killed in Gaza earlier this week.

Key Israeli opposition figures are calling for fresh elections in Israel.

Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, a main political rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has openly called for parliamentary elections in September in a public briefing Wednesday. 

Gantz said that he has notified the Israeli prime minister of his request, but he refused to say if he will leave the coalition if the government fails to decide on an election date. Gantz has been one of the most vocal opponents of Netanyahu from within the war cabinet.

Netanyahu's party responds: The Likud party urged Gantz to “stop engaging in petty politics” while Israel is at war. "Elections now will inevitably lead to paralysis, division, damage to the fighting in Rafah and fatal damage to the chances of a hostage deal,” the party said in a statement. “The government will continue until all the goals of the war are achieved."

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called for the current government to resign “as early as possible” in response to Gantz’s statement. “The State of Israel can’t wait for six more months until this terrible, dangerous and most failed government in this country’s history leaves. This government should leave as early as possible so we can bring back the hostages, allow the return of evacuated citizens, win over Hamas and ensure that someone’s caring for the Israeli middle class,” Lapid said in a post on X on Wednesday.

Remember: This is not the first time fresh elections have been called for. Another minister Gadi Eisenkot also called for the same earlier this year, saying elections are important “to renew the trust, as currently there is no trust.” There have also been large public protests in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, a significant challenge to the increasingly embattled leadership of Netanyahu.

A statement signed by 13 leading humanitarian and human rights organizations Wednesday called for urgent international action to stop Israel from escalating military operations in Rafah. If unstopped, the groups warn, the already dire humanitarian consequences in the southernmost Gaza city could be catastrophic.

The agencies — including Save the Children, Amnesty International and Oxfam International — underscored that despite a recent United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire and additional provisional measures from the International Court of Justice, Israeli military operations in Rafah continue.

The planned Israeli ground offensive in the city threatens the lives of more than a million civilians, most who have been displaced with limited access to essential services and nowhere safe to seek refuge.

The statement also emphasizes the absence of a viable civilian evacuation plan. Under international humanitarian law, Israel is obligated to ensure the safety and well-being of displaced civilians, yet no safe havens exist within or outside Gaza, the statement notes. Moreover, previous "safe zones" have been targeted by Israeli forces, jeopardizing the lives of civilians and aid workers alike. Israel has denied targeting civilians.

Even as US President Joe Biden issued a statement expressing frustration and outrage over the deaths of the seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, the administration reiterated its support of Israel’s war against Hamas — while also warning that Israel is not doing enough to protect civilians in the Palestinian enclave.

Kirby’s comments come after the deaths of the workers who were attempting to deliver food to starving civilians in the besieged enclave — including a dual US-Canadian citizen – which has raised the frustration for Biden and his top officials to a new level, a senior administration official told CNN.

When pressed by CNN’s MJ Lee about whether the White House still supports how Israel is prosecuting the war, Kirby said the administration has been clear and public about its objections but would not go so far as to withdraw its support.

“I want to make it clear that while we take issue with aspects of how operations are being conducted, particularly like saying, quite frankly, publicly, we don't support a ground operation in Rafah, we also continue to believe and continue to act on the belief that Israel has a right to defend itself against the still-viable threat by Hamas,” Kirby said.