Joe Biden tells Netanyahu ‘he supports ceasefire in Gaza pivot’

Bloomberg

President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he’d support a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas after days of calling for calm but not publicly seeking an end to the conflict, a shift in the US approach to the crisis following days of rising criticism.
“The president expressed his support for a cease-fire and discussed US engagement with Egypt and other partners towards that end,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement, describing Biden’s call with
Netanyahu.
Hours earlier, Psaki rebuffed questions about why Biden and his top officials had avoided calling publicly for a cease-fire, saying “quiet” diplomacy was needed behind the scenes to resolve a conflict that has killed at least 222 people.
Biden’s support for a ceasefire adds pressure on both sides to end a conflict that’s seen Hamas fire more than 3,100 rockets and Israel pummels Gaza with air strikes and artillery since the latest fighting erupted about a week ago. At least three more projectiles were launched from southern Lebanon towards Israel on Monday night.
Until the latest call between the two leaders, the Biden administration’s reluctance to press for a ceasefire was read by many analysts as a way of giving Netanyahu more space to go after Hamas, which runs Gaza and is considered a terrorist organisation by the US, European Union, Japan and other nations.
Israeli officials say they have killed more than a dozen top Hamas commanders since fighting started, and Netanyahu vowed to do “whatever it takes” to defend his country and “degrade” Hamas. Yet the political ground in the US was shifting quickly, with a rising number of Democrats pressing for more concrete efforts to stop the violence. That effort gained momentum when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer added his voice to that building consensus.
“I want to see a cease-fire reach quickly and mourn the loss of life,” Schumer said.
The comments were significant because of Schumer’s role as a key defender of Israel in Congress and ally of Biden, and they signaled that the president would have to move past what his press secretary called “quiet, intense” diplomacy and make more public calls for calm.
That diplomacy had largely taken the form of a series of phone calls by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who embarked on a flurry of talks with counterparts from around the world to seek an easing of the conflict.
In an extended exchange with reporters before the call with Netanyahu, Psaki said she wasn’t sure if Biden had seen the latest statement by a group of Senate Democrats calling for a cease-fire. She also wouldn’t say whether Biden believed that Israel’s actions in the conflict have gone too far.
Psaki instead emphasised dozens of calls made by the president and top officials seeking to resolve the crisis and said Biden was generally aware of the views held by members of Congress.