He also said Israel has the right and obligation to respond to the October 7 Hamas onslaught, in which the terror group slaughtered 1,400 people, most of them civilians, in southern Israel, but must do its utmost to protect civilians. And he said he did not demand that Israel delay a ground invasion of Gaza, but should get Hamas-held hostages out safely “if that’s possible.”
“There’s no going back to the status quo as it stood on October 6,” Biden said at a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. “That means ensuring that Hamas can no longer terrorize Israel and use Palestinians civilians as human shields. It also means that when this crisis is over, there has to be a vision of what comes next, and in our view it has to be a two-state solution.”
“It means a concentrated effort from all the parties — Israelis, Palestinians, regional partners, global leaders — to put us on a path toward peace,” he added.
With that aim in mind, US officials have begun inquiring into possible scenarios and have asked Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his aides whether the PA would be willing to once again rule the coastal enclave, a Palestinian official told The Times of Israel on Tuesday. READ MORE
