Details of US President Joe Biden’s phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday have emerged.
CNN has obtained new information about the meeting, which was reported in the American press as an “ultimatum”.
The report, citing “a person with knowledge of the meeting”, said that Biden demanded the immediate opening of the Erez (Beit Hanun) and Kerem Shalom (Kerem Abu Salim) border crossings and the Ashdod Port for the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Netanyahu said, “Joe, we will do it,” and the US President insisted that the announcement on the issue be made as soon as possible.
CNN noted that the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and the White House declined to comment officially on this exclusive report.
Israeli state television KAN reported shortly after the phone call that the War Cabinet had decided to increase aid to Gaza.
It was noted that humanitarian aid would be temporarily allowed to be delivered to the region via Ashdod and Erez, while aid arriving via Jordan would be allowed to pass through Kerem Shalom.
Following this statement, White House National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson underlined the need to fulfill these commitments “fully and immediately”:
As Joe Biden has said, US policy on Gaza will be determined by Israel taking these steps immediately.
Employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in an Israeli attack on Deir al-Balah in Gaza on April 1.
WCK, headquartered in the US capital Washington, said in a statement that the 7 employees killed in the attack were of Australian, Polish, UK, US-Canadian and Palestinian nationalities.
The statement noted that the team was in two armored vehicles bearing the organization’s logo in the de-escalation zone at the time of the attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, argued that there was “no intent” in the killing of WCK employees and said, “Such incidents happen in wars, we will investigate this to the end. We are in contact with the relevant governments. We will do everything to prevent this from happening again.”
In a statement made by the Israeli army, it was reported that there was actually an attempt to kill Hamas members and that as a result of the investigation into this attack, Colonel Nochi Mendel and a major were dismissed and Major General Yaron Finkelman, Brigadier General Itzik Cohen and Colonel Yair Zukerman were reprimanded.
Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said on Friday that Israel’s decision to open the gates was the result of widespread condemnation by the international community of the killing of WCK workers.
EU Council President Charles Michel, like Borrell, said on the same day that these moves were not enough. He also emphasized that children and babies are dying in Gaza due to malnutrition.
source: CNN, AA
