Biden demands Israel take action to protect civilians in Gaza

"President Biden clearly stated that Israel must announce and implement a series of specific and measurable steps to address the problem of damage to the civilian population, humanitarian suffering, and the security of humanitarian organisation workers. He explained that the US policy towards Gaza will be defined based on our assessment of Israel's immediate actions," wrote the White House in a statement regarding the phone call between the two leaders, the first since Israel's airstrike killed a team of volunteers from the World Central Kitchen in the Gaza Strip.

During the nearly 30-minute conversation, Biden stressed the need for an immediate ceasefire to stabilise and improve the situation for civilians. He also called on Netanyahu to allow his negotiators to agree on the release of hostages held by Hamas immediately. The leaders also discussed threats from Iran following an airstrike attributed to Israel on the Iranian consulate in Damascus. Biden declared support for Israel in the face of these threats - it was reported.

"The United States issued its sharpest public reprimand of Israel since the start of the war with Hamas on Thursday," Reuters commented on the matter.

For the first time, the US authorities made a clear and public suggestion in Thursday's conversation between the leaders that their policy towards Israel might change and that it is dependent on actions taken by the authorities in Tel Aviv. More and more Democrats in Congress are calling on the president to make support for Israel conditional. We, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, presented the situation even more during a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

"If we don't see the changes we want, changes will occur in our policy," he announced. He added that the attack on WCK workers was not the first, but "it must be the last" such incident.

When asked about the potential changes, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby refused to give a clear answer. However, he acknowledged that the US is frustrated with Israel's policy.

"The president laid out to the prime minister that in the absence of changes concerning the protection of civilians, lack of movement towards a ceasefire, and the provision of greater aid, he will reconsider his own policy choices regarding the Gaza Strip," Kirby said. He also emphasised that the US commitment to supporting Israel's defence "remains ironclad".

He added that the US expects Israel to announce appropriate changes "in the coming hours and weeks".

Seven volunteers from World Central Kitchen were killed in an Israeli attack on a humanitarian convoy in the Gaza Strip. The organisation issued a statement in the morning confirming the death of seven of its activists. "The World Central Kitchen organisation is devastated by the news that seven members of our team were killed in an IDF attack in Gaza," it is stated on the website.

WCK stated that their vehicles were hit as they left the Deir el-Balah warehouse, where the team unloaded over 220,000 pounds (about 100 tonnes) of humanitarian food aid brought by sea to Gaza.

The seven killed were from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, which had dual citizenship in the USA and, Canada, and Palestine.