President Joe Biden told fellow global leaders at a Group of 20 summit Monday that his soon-to-end administration would keep pushing to bring an equitable end to Israel’s devastating war against Hamas in Gaza.
Seated between leaders of France and India at a long oval table at the summit site in Rio de Janeiro, Biden cited US efforts on hunger and poverty in his soon-to-end four years in office, saying he had put $160 billion into global development.
With fewer than three months left in his term, Biden also said his administration would keep pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on its conduct of the war and the need to end it.
“Israel has a right to defend itself after the worse massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. But how it defends itself ... matters a great deal.”
“We’re going to keep pushing to accelerate a ceasefire deal that ensures Israel’s security and brings hostages home and ends the suffering of the Palestinian people and children,” he said.
Biden also said Hamas was still refusing a deal, adding, “I am asking everyone to increase the pressure on Hamas.”