Biden has declared his support for the Gaza ceasefire amid growing pressure from the Gaza News

Faced with growing pressure from rights activists and members of his Democratic Party, U.S. President Joe Biden has conveyed his support for a ceasefire to end violence on the Gaza Strip.

In a statement on Monday, the White House said Biden had “spoken out in favor of the ceasefire and pledged to the United States and Egypt and other partners to do so for this purpose” in a call with interim Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“The president has reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself against indiscriminate rocket attacks,” the statement said.

The day before, he had Netanyahu he said The Israeli military attack on Gaza would continue “with full force”; The Gaza Ministry of Health has announced that since May 10, Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 212 people on the Gaza Strip, including 61 children.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced The Israeli bombings, began on May 10 after rockets fired from Gaza into Israel.

Hamas, the Palestinian faction that governs the blocked Palestinian territory, has said it fired rockets in retaliation, forced Palestinians out of occupied East Jerusalem and attacked Israelis at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Biden “welcomed the efforts to combat inter-communal violence and bring peace to Jerusalem” and “encouraged Israel to make every effort to ensure the protection of innocent civilians,” the White House said in a call to Netanyahu.

Since the outbreak of the fighting, Biden and his top officials in the country have certainly publicly supported Israel, stressing that diplomatic and military means are being taken to try to reduce violence.

The US for the third time blocked A UN statement condemning Israel’s deadly military attack on Gaza – generating widespread criticism.

U.S. Army General Mark Milley warned on Monday that he continues to fight for potential stabilization beyond the Gaza Strip. “No one has any interest in continuing to fight,” Milley told reporters before interviewing NATO allies before landing in Brussels, the Reuters news agency reported.

“My assessment is that you risk wider destabilization and that if the fight continues you risk a lot of negative consequences,” Milley said. “Dissolution is a smart way to act right now for all concerned.”

King Abdullah of Jordan said in a call on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday that “the international community must assume its responsibility and move forward effectively to stop and repeat Israeli attacks, as well as to stop the attack on Gaza.” , the royal court said in a statement.

Al Jazeera’s John Hendren, a report from Washington, DC, said Biden had been criticized by both Republicans and progressive members of the Democratic Party.

In a moving speech on the floor of the House on May 13, Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American representative, criticized Biden and because other top officials of the administration have not recognized “Palestinian humanity” in the midst of Israeli airstrikes.

“Those words are stronger than we’ve heard in the past,” Hendren, Tlaibe, and Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, other progressive Democratic representatives, said in recent comments.

Finally !! The delay in accepting the ceasefire has led to the murder and destruction of children’s lives.

Now Biden must push for an end to the occupation. https://t.co/pfgDoIfpK0

– Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) May 17, 2021

Meanwhile, a group of 25 Democratic senators signed a letter over the weekend asking Biden for an immediate ceasefire.

As the number of Palestinians killed in Palestine on Monday continued to rise, Chuck Schumer, the majority of Senate Democrats who have traditionally been a staunch defender of Israel, also called for a ceasefire.

“I want the ceasefire to arrive quickly and deplore the loss of life,” Schumer told reporters at the U.S. Capitol, and said he was in favor of a statement earlier by Senate Democrats and Republicans in the Senate calling for a ceasefire.

“As a result of Hamas’ rocket attacks and Israel’s response, both sides must acknowledge that too many lives have been lost and that they must not escalate the conflict further, ”Senators Chris Murphy and Todd Young read on May 16.

Hendren said it is “striking” that a majority of Senate Democrats have signed a letter encouraging Biden to call for a ceasefire as soon as possible. “That’s implicit criticism of Democrats, that it doesn’t do enough,” he said.

Phyllis Bennis, director of the New Internationalism Research Project for Political Institutes in Washington, DC, said the Biden administration has followed in the footsteps of previous presidents who supported Israel in times of crisis.

“Washington is constantly responding to Israel’s attacks on Gaza or Lebanon, refusing to push for an immediate ceasefire and sending additional weapons to strengthen Israel’s US-supplied arsenal,” Bennis told Al Jazeera in an email Monday.