Israel war: Israeli occupation of Gaza would be ‘big mistake‘: US
US President Joe Biden says he believes that Hamas must be eliminated but that there needs to be a path to a Palestinian state as Israeli troops prepare for a ground invasion. Latest updates. Warning: Graphic
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Israel is on the verge of invading Gaza, undeterred by Iran’s alarming threat to intervene which has sparked fears of war engulfing the region and prompted the US to deploy more fighter jets.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to “dismantle” Hamas during the first formal meeting of the country’s new wartime government, with tens of thousands of troops ready for action.b
“(Our soldiers) are ready to take action at any time in order to defeat the bloodthirsty monsters who have risen against us to destroy us,” he said.
But Iran warned it would respond if Israel crossed its reported red line of a ground offensive in Gaza, a threat heightened by further skirmishes involving Hezbollah in Israel’s north, including a rocket striking the headquarters of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon.
“If the Zionist aggressions do not stop, the hands of all parties in the region are on the trigger,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said.
Gaza’s health ministry refused to evacuate hospitals as it said at least 2760 Palestinians had been killed in air strikes prompted by Hamas’s terrorist attack that killed at least 1400 Israelis.
Israeli officials said Hamas was still holding 126 people hostage, including US, German and Mexican nationals, and scores of Israeli citizens.
Macnamara MP Josh Burns has called for Australians to unite against terrorism and antisemitism, saying the people of Israel and Palestine deserve nothing less.
Speaking about the “heinous acts of terror” perpetrated by Hamas, Mr Burns said his community were “heartbroken” and “suffering” as they tried to reconcile the atrocities overseas and at home.
“We have seen flags burnt, Nazi salutes on Melbourne trains, and a stream of online abuse with justifications of the murder of innocent Jewish lives,” he told the House.
“We must stand united against terrorism, against antisemitism, and against hatred in all its forms.
“The people of Israel, the Palestinian people, and indeed all humanity deserve nothing less.”
Mr Burns, who condemned the attacks as “barbaric, abhorrent, and totally unjustifiable”, said they were designed to fuel conflict and further divide the two.
He defended Israel’s obligation to “protect its citizens”, saying if Australia had been under attack, it would demand the parliament act to ensure the terror could not happen again.
Mr Burns said his dream of seeing “peace between the Israelis and Palestinians” now felt further away than ever.
But in all the carnage, he had seen humanity “rise to the surface”.
He extended his deepest sympathies to the families of innocent Palestinians; as well as the Israelis, Americans, Bedouins, Thais, Australians, Kiwis and Germans that had lost loved ones.
RESCUE TEAMS STILL FINDING VICTIMS
Search and rescue teams are still finding the bodies of Israeli civilians killed by Hamas terrorists a week ago.
Yossi Landau, head of Zaka Search and Rescue in the southern region, said the teams in his area have collected 280 bodies so far, with “80 per cent tortured”.
He told Stuart Ramsay from Sky UK he had found two piles of ten bodies, all of them children, “each tied to the back, burnt to death”.
He said the brutality was “next level”.
“I won’t describe everything I saw,” he told Ramsay, at a Kibbutz, near the Gaza border which was attacked by the terrorists.
Mr Landau said many of the bodies were booby trapped with bombs, making it difficult to recover them.
Their work had also been hampered by rocket attacks from Gaza.
“Many of the bodies have been booby trapped, so it’s a very, very dangerous and painstaking operation one week on,” Ramsay said.
“What’s clear here is that the Hamas rampage of terror changed from location to location.
“Sometimes they just murdered people.
“But when they had time, they tortured, maimed and killed men, women and children.”
Footage by Sky UK showed the bodies of Hamas terrorists were covered in white plastic and marked with a black ‘X’ in spray paint to distinguish them from civilians, and then removed by bulldozers.
PM CALLS ON HAMAS TO RELEASE HOSTAGES
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has urged Hamas to release all Israeli hostages, saying the evil committed had “chilled every Australian heart”.
“We’ve all been profoundly shocked by the scale and wantonness of these attacks,” he said in an address to the House of Representatives.
“We must face what has happened and what is now unfolding with complete moral clarity.
“Hamas terrorists committed mass murder on a horrific scale. Jewish families here and across the world are mourning the greatest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust.”
Mr Albanese also blasted the “awful anti-Semitism” of some of the protesters who gathered outside the Sydney Opera House last Monday.
BIDEN SAYS OCCUPATION WOULD BE ‘BIG MISTAKE’
An Israeli occupation of Gaza would be a big mistake, US President Joe Biden said during an interview with the US version of 60 Minutes, but added that taking out extremists is a “necessary requirement”.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Mr Biden said he believed that Hamas must be eliminated entirely. However, he added, “there needs to be a Palestinian authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state.”
When asked if he believed that Israel would pursue a two-state solution, which has been US policy for decades, Mr Biden said: “Not now. Not now. Not now — but I think Israel understands that a significant portion of Palestinian people do not share the views of Hamas and Hezbollah.”
FINAL FLIGHT FOR FLEEING AUSSIES
A final charter flight will be made to Tel Aviv today to collect Australians still wanting to leave the region, with many yesterday hedging their bets for better flight options or simply not checking in. The first charter put on by Qantas flew to London with an A380 today to depart the British capital for Australia but two further flights had to be suspended due to safety concerns largely around missiles.
DFAT has today been telephoning the around 700 remaining Australians who had registered including the ones who were supposed to take flights overnight and were a no-show. Some said they were waiting for better flight options, including anticipating going to London not Dubai, or the timing no longer suited them and they would be requesting a rescue flight later in the week. Defence Minister Richard Marles confirmed on Monday.
He said one was a chartered flight and the other two RAAF military planes.
ABBAS: HAMAS’S ACTIONS ‘DO NOT REPRESENT PALESTINIANS’
Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas said that the policies and actions of Hamas “do not represent the Palestinian people”, the news agency Wafa reported.
The Palestinian Liberation Organisations (PLO) was the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, he added, during talks with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Wafa added.
According to a Venezuelan Foreign Ministry statement, Maduro and Abbas discussed “the terrible situation” in the Gaza Strip following “indiscriminate attacks” by Israel.
Maduro reaffirmed “Venezuela’s unconditional support for the Palestinian cause and its Authority”, and offered 30 tonnes of humanitarian aid “for the Palestinian people” to be sent in the next few days, according to the statement.
It added that both leaders agreed to “demand an immediate ceasefire and the establishment of a humanitarian assistance corridor” as well as the return to “international legality”.
NO CONFIRMATION HAMAS BEHEADED BABIES
A CNN journalist who reported Israeli babies had been beheaded by Hamas in a claim that poured fuel on already global outrage has apologised for the error. Sara Sidner issued the apology on social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, following a statement by the Israeli government that it could not confirm the incident.
“Yesterday the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said that it had confirmed Hamas beheaded babies & children while we were live on the air. The Israeli government now says today it CANNOT confirm babies were beheaded. I needed to be more careful with my words and I am sorry.”
The “babies with heads cut off” claim was initially made by Israeli media quoting unnamed soldiers amid the aftermath of Kfar Aza kibbutz and was pushed by the Netanyahu administration and the US press and Australia’s Opposition leader Peter Dutton, before both the White House and Israeli administration sought to clarify the case.
While no babies and toddlers were beheaded there was unequivocal evidence they had been murdered by militants.
BIDEN CONSIDERING ISRAEL TRIP
US President Joe Biden is considering visiting Israel this week in what would be a significant show of support. US news outlet Axios reported Mr Biden was invited to visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a call on Saturday.
Two Israeli officials told Axios the trip was being discussed, while a White House spokeswoman said: “We have no new travel to announce.”
Mr Biden’s secret trip to Ukraine earlier this year was the first time in modern history that a US president had travelled to an active war zone that was not under American control.
He is due to host Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Washington DC next week.
It comes after the US sent more fighter jets to the region, increasing its armada to more than 100 attack planes. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan acknowledged the threat of Iran widening the war was real, given its backing of Hamas and Hezbollah.
“There is a risk of escalation of this conflict, the opening of a second front in the north, and of course Iran’s involvement,” he said.
‘THERE IS NO FOOD’
In the southern Gaza Strip, scores of people line up at bathrooms, many of them not having showered for days after Israel cut off water, electricity and food following Hamas’s deadly assault.
Ahmed Hamid, 43, fled Gaza City with his wife and seven children, heading to Rafah after the Israeli army on Friday warned residents of the north of the enclave to head south “for their own safety”.
“We haven’t showered in days. Even going to the toilet requires waiting your turn in a line,” Hamid told AFP.
“There is no food. All goods are not available and the costs of what is available have surged. The only foods we find are tuna cans and cheese.
“I feel like a burden, unable to do anything.” The UN estimates that about one million people have been displaced since Israel began a relentless aerial bombardment of Gaza in retaliation for Hamas’s deadly assault on October 7.
Israel also cut off all water, electricity and food supplies to the densely-populated coastal enclave, before resuming water to the south on Sunday.
US SENATORS FORCED TO SHELTER FROM ROCKETS
US Senator Chuck Schumer and other members of the bipartisan US Senate delegation to Israel, including Senator Mitt Romney, were forced to shelter as Hamas launched rockets over Tel Aviv.
“While in Tel Aviv today, our delegation was rushed to a shelter to wait out rockets sent by Hamas,” Sen. Schumer posted on social media on Sunday.
“It shows you what Israelis have to go through. We must provide Israel with the support required to defend itself.”
While in Tel Aviv today, our delegation was rushed to a shelter to wait out rockets sent by Hamas. It shows you what Israelis have to go through. We must provide Israel with the support required to defend itself. pic.twitter.com/wS3kq6xFVJ
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) October 15, 2023
Schumer, who is leading the delegation on a trip to meet high-level Israeli officials and show US support for Israel, posted a photo of senators and staffers standing in an Israeli shelter. His office says the trip is to show “unwavering support for Israel.”
“In Israel, we met with families of the victims of this brutal attack by Hamas, families who didn’t know if their loved ones were alive, families whose loved ones were taken hostage. Their stories moved us. We stand with Israel. We won’t stop working to bring the hostages home,” he posted in a follow-up tweet.
HOSTAGES PRIORITISED IN GAZA OPERATION
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with relatives of those held hostage in Gaza on Sunday, with the families later saying in a statement that he told them: “One of the goals of the war is the return of the captive and missing.”
They were earlier angered when a senior Israeli national security official said the government would not “hold negotiations with an enemy that we have vowed to wipe from the face of the earth”.
ISRAELI BORDER TOWN EVACUATED AHEAD OF INVASION
The Israeli city of Sderot, which is less than 2km from the Gaza border, has been evacuated ahead of the invasion.
At least 30 civilians and police officers had been killed there during Hamas’s brutal attack.
Mayor Alon Davidi told The New York Times that about 12,000 residents had moved further north over the past week to seek safety.
While evacuation is not mandatory, those who had remained behind in the city of about 30,000 people during the week were encouraged to leave the area, which continued to face rocket strikes from Gaza.
Israeli media reported about 60,000 people had been displaced from communities near the Gaza border.
WARNING FOR AUSTRALIANS IN LEBANON
Lebanese-Australians have been warned to reconsider whether they should remain in Lebanon with the Israeli war threatening to spill across the border.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed multiple mercy flights for Australians stranded in Israel were set to resume with a mix of charter and military RAAF flights in the next 24 hours.
About 1200 Australians had registered to leave Lebanon from the estimated 10,000 Australians, mostly dual nationals, living there.
But Senator Wong gave a solemn appeal to Australians and dual nationals living or visiting Lebanon urging them to consider leaving the region while commercial flights were available.
“The existing travel advice for Lebanon is reconsider your need to travel due to the security environment. I am now saying to Australians if you are now in Lebanon you should consider whether your need to remain there is essential. Again, if you are in Lebanon please consider whether your need to remain there is essential. If you wish to leave you should note a crisis could limit your options for departure and you should consider the first available option.”
‘GENOCIDE OF UNPRECEDENTED PROPORTIONS’
Israel’s planned ground invasion of Gaza “could lead to a genocide of unprecedented proportions”, the heads of the Arab League and African Union have said in a joint statement.
Both organisations called on “the United Nations and the international community to stop a catastrophe unfolding in front of us, before it is too late”, as Israel readies for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.
IRAN BECOMING ‘DIRECTLY ENGAGED’
The United States said it fears an escalation of the war between Israel and Hamas and the prospect of Iran getting directly involved.
Speaking on CBS, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan cited the possibility of a new battle front on the Israel-Lebanon border and added, “We can’t rule out that Iran would choose to get directly engaged some way. We have to prepare for every possible contingency.”
Iran is a long-time backer of the militant group Hamas and of Hezbollah in Lebanon, providing them funding and weapons.
“That is a risk and that’s a risk that we have been mindful of since the start,” Sullivan said of the prospect of Iran getting involved in the war, which was triggered by the Hamas attack on southern Israel from Gaza last weekend.
“It’s why the president moves so rapidly and decisively to get an aircraft carrier into the eastern Mediterranean, to get aircraft into The Gulf, because he sent a very clear message to any state or any actor that would seek to exploit this situation,” Sullivan added.
IRAN WARNS ‘NO ONE CAN GUARANTEE’ OUTCOME IF ISRAEL INVADES
Iran warned that any Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip could escalate conflicts elsewhere in the Middle East.
Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian held talks with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, as Israeli troops massed on the border.
“No one can guarantee the control of the situation and the non expansion of the conflicts,” he said, according to an Iranian foreign ministry statement on Sunday.
HAMAS NEED TO BE ‘BANISHED’ FOR ‘BUTCHERING OUR BABIES’
Israel is determined to “destroy Hamas’ capabilities” and “make sure they can never, ever again target and butcher our babies in their beds”, a spokesperson for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has said.
As the Israel-Hamas war rages on, LT Col Peter Lerner told GB News the people of Gaza “are not our enemy” as he urges people to evacuate to the south.
Speaking to Christopher Hope, Lerner said: “The worst case scenario is that people stay in where we plan to conduct our operations, so they should evacuate to the south where there are places where people can take cover for the time being.
“And indeed when we’ve completed operations, we will announce that they will be able to come back to their homes.
“The situation on the ground is one where we are changing the paradigm, when Hamas decided to butcher our babies they broke the rules of the game.”
“Hamas needs to pay, they need to be removed, so much so that they need to be banished from the realm of existence,” Lerner added.
“I would expect the leaders of the Palestinians and Hamas that they take care of their people, that they use their power, like any Palestinian government should use their power to govern, to create an environment that can flourish and can grow.
“And not build tunnels for terror rockets for hate, and special forces for destruction and death – we won’t permit that to be the reality for our civilians.”
He added: “This can never, ever happen again.”
POPE CALLS FOR HUMANITARIAN CORRIDORS FOR GAZA RESIDENTS
Pope Francis called for humanitarian corridors to allow the delivery of essentials to the Gaza Strip, which is under heavy Israeli bombardment.
Alarm has grown about a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where Israel has cut off water, food and power, vowing to maintain the complete siege until all hostages taken by the Palestinian Islamist militant group are freed.
In the eight days since Hamas gunmen killed more than 1300 Israelis in their surprise onslaught, Israel has responded with a devastating bombing campaign that has claimed over 2,300 lives in Gaza.
“Humanitarian law must be respected, especially in Gaza, where it is urgent and necessary to guarantee humanitarian corridors and help the population,” said the Pope after his traditional Angelus prayer in Rome’s Saint Peter’s Square on Sunday.
“I strongly urge that children, the sick, the elderly, women and all civilians should not fall victim to the conflict”, he added.
ISRAEL AWAITS ‘POLITICAL DECISION’ TO STORM GAZA
The Israeli army is awaiting a “political decision” on the timing of a major ground offensive on the Gaza Strip, a military spokesman said on Sunday as civilians stepped up desperate efforts to flee northern Gaza.
Israel has told 1.1 million people in northern Gaza to leave for the south of the territory and thousands were still using safe routes designated by Israel to seek safety on Sunday.
Israel has faced pressure from the United Nations and its allies to hold back on any invasion until civilians have been given every chance to leave. The military has not said when the safe passage windows will close.
Military spokesmen Lieutenant Richard Hecht and Daniel Hagari told separate briefings on Sunday that “a political decision” will set off any action against Hamas.
“We will be holding discussions with our political leadership,” Hecht told one briefing.
Military spokesmen have told reporters that any invasion would aim to eradicate Hamas’ militant network and leadership so that it cannot stage more attacks.
The Israeli military has particularly singled out Yahya Sinwar, the chief of Hamas in Gaza they blame for the October 7 attacks. “That man is in our sights,” Hecht said on Saturday. “He is a dead man walking and we will get to that man.”
The Israeli Defence Forces has claimed there are 126 Israelis being held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza.
Israeli officials say the number of known hostages had been revised down from 150 as bodies from the Hamas attack sites in southern Israel have been found and identified.
The military has also said its forces had found the bodies of some of the hostages in raids into Gaza, without providing a number.
Hamas has claimed that 22 hostages were killed in Israeli strikes, without providing evidence.
It has warned it will kill hostages in response to unannounced Israeli strikes on civilians targets.
US CITIZENS TO EVACUATE VIA SEA
The United States has organised a ship to take Americans out of Israel to Cyprus on Monday, the US embassy said.
With Israel moving toward an invasion of the Gaza Strip, the ship will leave from the Israeli port of Haifa for Limassol taking “US nationals and their immediate family members with a valid travel document”, the US embassy said in a security alert.
Tens of thousands of US passport holders live in Israel and 29 have been confirmed killed in the Hamas attacks on October 7. Another 15 are missing and believed to be among hostages held by Hamas since the attacks.
The US embassy did not say how many people would be taken on the ship but said “boarding will proceed in order of arrival and is on a space limited basis.” Boarding would start at 8am (0500 GMT).
Each passenger will have to sign a document promising to repay the cost of the trip and will only be allowed to carry one suitcase. It said that some chartered flights would be arranged from Cyprus for onward travel.
‘REAL RISK’ HAMAS COULD TURN INTO WORLD CONFLICT
UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said there was a “real risk that Hamas is successful in turning this into a wider regional Arab Israeli or Muslim versus the rest of the world conflict”.
“Israel are very conscious of that and are listening very carefully when we discuss what we can do to minimise the risk of that happening,” Mr Cleverly told GB News on Sunday.
“I’ve been speaking with the leadership of countries in the region discussing how we can minimise the risk of that happening but Israel are conscious, we‘re conscious of that and the international community is working to minimise the risk of that happening.”
“We are working to ensure that Israel have a plan, have an exit strategy and we will, of course, continue to do whatever we can to minimise the risk that this becomes an enduring, extended, painful regional conflict,” he added.
Mr Cleverly also told Sky News: “Restraint, discipline – these are the hallmarks of the Israeli Defence Force that I want to see. And indeed, those are the hallmarks of a high-functioning military organisation, which the IDF is, in stark contrast to the terrorist atrocities perpetrated by Hamas”.
“I’ve said, maintain that clear distinction: Israel seeks to avoid civilian casualties; Hamas seeks civilians in order to target.”
AID FOOD SUPPLIES RUNNING OUT IN GAZA
The World Food Programme (WFP) said “people are really getting hungry”, revealing it was running low of supplies in Gaza and had not been able to get more food into the enclave.
The UN humanitarian organisation’s regional director Corinne Fleischer said it had enough supplies to feed 1.3 million for two weeks but it was stuck at the border because the group could not safety enter Gaza, reports CNN.
“We’re talking to all parties to be able to move in. Unfortunately, we have not received that okay yet,” Ms Fleischer said.
“We need to be able to cross the border, we need to have safe supply corridors to go to the shelters to distribute the food.
“(We) are running out of time … people are really getting hungry”.
So far, WFP has provided canned food, bread and money to 520,000 people in Gaza, and is expected to climb to almost 750,000 on Sunday, all “despite the absolute chaos and our staff being themselves in shelters with no food, no mattresses, no water and no bathrooms, no electricity”, Ms Fleischer said.
On Sunday, the White House announced that Israel had put water supplies back on in Southern Gaza.
“I have been in touch with my Israeli counterparts just within the last hour who reported to me that they have, in fact, turned the water pipe back on in southern Gaza,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told CNN.
Israel had halted the flow of water as part of its siege of the Hamas-ruled territory since the war broke out last weekend.
LEBANON HIT BY ISRAEL AIR STRIKES
Areas of Lebanon’s south has been targeted by Israeli air strikes, according to reports.
Targeting Lebanon was in retaliation to a missile attack that killed one person and wounded three others in the Israeli village of Shtula.
‘AXIS OF RESISTANCE’ WARNS IT MAY INTERVENE
The rapidly evolving crisis is threatening to spread with Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian formally warning the United Nations it and the “axis of resistance” including Lebanon and Syria would be forced to “intervene” if Israel did not call off its Gaza land invasion.
He had earlier met with Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh in his base in Qatar and visited Lebanon.
“Some Western officials have questioned if there is an intention to open a new front against the Zionist entity,” he said from Beirut. “Of course in light of the continuation of these circumstances that are war crimes.”
In Lebanon, Hezbollah militants fired several rockets into Israel but warned it would gather troops to invade when IDF go into Gaza. Israeli military has in recent days been deploying troops to its northern border in anticipation. It has warned no one should come within 4km of the Lebanese border.
Syria has also threatened retaliation after it accused Israel of bombing its two international airports in Damascus and Aleppo. The IDF would not comment but confirmed it had retaliated to rocket firings from across in Syria.
MASSIVE PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTS
Tens of thousands of people have taken part in pro-Palestine protests in cities around the world.
In the United Kingdom, several cities, including London, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh, were reduced to gridlock as thousands marched, despite police warnings that anyone showing support for the militant group Hamas could face arrest.
In London, demonstrators massed neared BBC News’ headquarters before an afternoon rally near Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Downing Street office and residence.
Some held Palestinian flags and placards with slogans such as “Freedom for Palestine”, “End the massacre” and “Sanctions for Israel” while chants of “Rishi Sunak, shame on you” could be heard.
BIDEN WARNS HUMANITARIAN COST OF WAR COULD BE HIGH
US President Joe Biden, in his now daily calls with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, restated his support for Israel but warned Hamas would be holding civilians as human shields and the humanitarian cost could be high.
Thousands of the 1.1 million Palestinians who missed the deadline to flee Gaza were yesterday cramming into local hospitals.
“The Palestinian civilians in Gaza are not our enemies,” IDF’s international spokesman Lt Colonel John Conricus said. “We don’t assess them as such and we don’t target them as such. We are trying to do the right thing.”
35,000 GAZANS CRAM INTO HOSPITAL FOR SAFETY
But the IDF on Sunday ordered 22 hospitals in Gaza to be immediately evacuated and not be used as safe havens.
The hospitals largely in Gaza’s north had 2000 inpatients, some that cannot be moved, but many more locals seeking shelter in common areas.
In Gaza City’s main hospital, the al-Shifa, an estimated 35,000 people have crammed into bloodied hallways and hospital grounds, sitting under trees as well as inside the building’s lobby, hoping to be protected from the fighting.
“People think this is the only safe space after their homes were destroyed and they were forced to flee,” local Health Ministry official Dr Medhat Abbas said.
The World Health Organisation has formally requested hospitals not be touched.
MORE US MILITARY SUPPORT DEPLOYED
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on his most extensive trip to the Middle East met with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan in Riyadh hoping to work with regional allies to prevent the war spilling over to other countries. He also telephoned his counterpart in China, Wang Yi, to appeal for help to deter Iran from entering the conflict.
“The increases to US force posture signal the United States’ iron-clad commitment to Israel’s security and our resolve to deter any state or non state actor seeking to escalate this war,” US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin added.
Mr Biden also spoke with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmud Abbas condemning Hamas and saying the Islamist group does not represent Palestinian aspirations for “self-determination.”
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