The White House released a statement on Monday after President Joe Biden spoke to Prime Minister Netanyahu. In the dialogue, the president reaffirmed “Israel’s right to defend itself against indiscriminate rocket attacks.” Biden “encouraged Israel to make every effort to ensure the protection of innocent civilians”.
It should be noted that fully one-third of the Hamas rockets land inside Gaza, frequently harming the civilians. The IDF goes to great measures to ensure the safety of civilians, frequently warning the residents of buildings targeted due to Hamas military activities. Hamas, on the other hand, specifically targets Israel’s urban centers for rocket attacks.
Ceasefire
The White House media release also stated that “the President expressed his support for a ceasefire.”
The Gaza Health Ministry claimed that at least 212 people have been killed in Gaza. Israel claimed that at least 150 of those were Hamas terrorists actively engaged in attacking Israel. Additionally, the IDF reported that fully one-third of the rockets fired by Hamas landed inside Gaza and are responsible for some of the casualties. Over 3,400 rockets have been fired at Israel from Gaza, most being intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system. In Israel. 10 people, including two children, were killed in rocket attacks and 294 injured. In addition, 191 Israelis have been injured in riots and clashes between Jews and Arabs inside Israel.
Israeli military officials have said they would like to carry on operations targeting Hamas military targets for another day or two in order to complete their objectives of neutralizing Hamas’ ability to carry out rocket attacks.
“We’re trying to degrade Hamas’ terrorist abilities and to degrade their will to do this again,” Netanyahu told CBS in an interview on Sunday. “So it’ll take some time. I hope it won’t take long, but it’s not immediate.”
“If Hamas can still fire rockets, they have won.”
David Rubin, the author of Confronting Radicals: What America can learn from Israel, emphasized that a ceasefire at this point would not bring about a lasting end to hostilities and would only serve Hamas.
“A ceasefire right now would unquestionably benefit Hamas,” Rubin said. “At this point, Israel is just beginning to win, just beginning to achieve some of their objectives. If Hamas can still fire rockets when the fighting stops, then they have won.”
“Biden wants a ceasefire because he looks awful. This entire situation, all of the violence, is entirely a result of his policies and actions. He restored $300 million in aid unconditionally to the Palestinians, including Hamas in Gaza. Whether he intended to start a war or not, less than four months after he took office, we are at war. Now he has the chutzpah to call a ceasefire while Hamas is still firing rockets at Israeli cities.”
“We have been here several times before. A ceasefire will only stop the rockets temporarily, if at all. But it will give Hamas time to restock their rockets and to regroup. The IDF reserves are already called up, everything is in place for Israel to end the terrorist attacks. All we ask is to not interfere, to allow us to protect our people.”
