Behind Biden's shift on Israel-Hamas war - Gaza deaths, international pressure

Source: Reuters

Behind Biden's shift on Israel-Hamas war - Gaza deaths, international pressure

Steve Holland, Matt Spetalnick and Humeyra Pamuk
Fri, October 27, 2023 at 1:09 AM EDT·6 min read

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden and his team have markedly shifted their tone on the Israel-Hamas crisis in recent days, moving from unfettered support of Israel to emphasizing the need to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza ahead of a looming Israeli ground invasion.

Biden has not changed his fundamental belief that Israel has the right and responsibility to defend itself in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack from Hamas militants that killed 1,400 people in southern Israel, aides say.

But a rapidly rising Palestinian death toll, the difficulty of freeing hostages held by Hamas and an increasingly vocal outcry from Arab nations, European allies and some Americans at home, have pushed Biden's team to support a humanitarian pause to Israel's attacks and focus on getting aid to Palestinians, say multiple sources inside the administration and out.

A White House official said the shift in tone was based on "the facts on the ground" in Gaza with a humanitarian crisis worsening and the Biden team's "conversations with countries around the world."

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