Biden to Netanyahu: US support depends on protecting civilians

President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that continued US support would depend on Israel acting to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip, offering conditions for the aid for the first time, calling for an "immediate end to the fire".
In a phone call after Israel's killing of seven aid workers - which Israel says was a mistake - Biden called on Netanyahu to "announce and implement a series of specific, concrete and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering and the safety of aid workers," the White House said in a statement.
Joe Biden "made clear that US policy on Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel's immediate action on these steps," it said.
The US leader told Netanyahu that strikes against aid workers, as well as the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where the UN has warned of famine, "are unacceptable".
Biden "stressed that an immediate cease-fire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and to protect innocent civilians, and called on the Prime Minister to authorize his negotiators to reach an immediate agreement to return the hostages home." said in the statement.
Qatar has been in protracted negotiations for a temporary ceasefire that would include the release of hostages taken when Hamas carried out the deadliest attack in Israel's history on October 7.
The United States supported the ceasefire as part of the hostage deal in the hope that it would lead to a long-term settlement.
For months, Biden has expressed growing frustration with Netanyahu, but has also staunchly defended Israel's right to respond to Hamas.
Despite pressure from the left in Biden's Democratic Party, the administration is racing to provide millions of dollars worth of military supplies to Israel, even as it criticizes the conduct of the war./BGNES