US President Joe Biden warned Israel that aid cannot be used as a “bargaining chip” as he called for an urgent, temporary cease-fire with Hamas in the brutal Gaza conflict.
“To Israel’s leadership, I say this: humanitarian assistance cannot be used as a negotiating chip. “Protecting and saving innocent lives must be a priority,” Biden stated during his annual State of the Union address.
Biden outlined a plan revealed earlier in the day to build a temporary pier in the Mediterranean to transport aid into Gaza, where the UN has warned of hunger.
Biden reiterated that Israel was justified in hitting Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, following the catastrophic attack on October 7, and that the terrorists “could end this conflict today” by releasing prisoners.
But he described the impact on Gaza as “heartbreaking.”
“I’ve been working nonstop to establish an immediate ceasefire that would last for six weeks,” he told reporters.
