Biden administration pushes for a humanitarian ‘pause’ in Israel’s military campaign in Gaza

The Biden administration is pushing for more aid to get into Gaza and signaling Israel to “pause” its military offensive against Hamas militants, amid concerns that days of heavy bombardment and a siege of the Palestinian enclave are creating a growing humanitarian disaster and raising the risk of a wider conflict. 

At a news conference Wednesday with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, President Joe Biden expressed strong solidarity with Israel but said the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza needed to “increase,” that Israel needed to do “everything in its power to protect innocent civilians” and condemned reports of “extremist” Israeli settlers in the West Bank targeting Palestinians.