Biden, Promising Unconditional Aid, To Visit Israel on Wednesday

President Biden will travel to Israel and on to Jordan Wednesday to meet with both Israeli and Arab leadership, as concerns increase that the raging Israel-Hamas war could expand into a larger regional conflict.Secretary Blinken announced Mr. Biden’s travel to Israel as the humanitarian situation as Israel prepares for a possible ground attack on Gaza to root out Hamas terrorists responsible for what American and Israeli officials say was the most lethal assault against Jews since the Holocaust.Mr. Biden is looking to send the strongest message yet that America is behind Israel. His administration has pledged military support, sending American carriers and aid to the region. Officials have said they would ask Congress for upward of two billion dollars in additional aid for both Israel and Ukraine.The visit is a chance for Mr. Biden to burnish his national security credentials with the 2024 election just over a year away. It is also an opportunity to demonstrate that he is making good on his campaign promise of exercising American leadership after four years of President Trump’s “America First” foreign policy, which did yield the diplomatic breakthroughs of the Abraham Accords. But Mr. Biden’s presence could be seen as a provocative move by Hamas’ chief sponsor, Iran, or potentially viewed with hostility by Arab nations as civilian casualties mount in Gaza. The secretary of state has already been traveling around the Middle East this past week trying to prevent the war with Hamas from igniting a broader regional conflict.Mr. Blinken made the announcement early Tuesday after more than seven hours of talks with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials. “He is coming here at a critical moment for Israel, for the region and for the world,” the secretary said.Mr. Blinken added that Mr. Biden will be briefed by Israeli officials on their war aims and strategy, and will hear about how they intend to conduct operations “in a way that minimizes civilian casualties and enables humanitarian assistance to flow to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not benefit Hamas.”Shortly after that announcement, in the District of Columbia, a White House National Security Council spokesman, John Kirby, announced that Biden would also go to Jordan to meet with King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas.“We’ve been crystal clear about the need for humanitarian aid to be able to continue to flow into Gaza,” Mr. Kirby said. “That has been a consistent call by President Biden and certainly by this entire administration.”Truckloads of aid idled Monday at Egypt’s border with Gaza, barred from entry, as residents and humanitarian groups pleaded for water, food and fuel for dying generators. Those groups say that Gaza is near total collapse.Mr. Biden had been scheduled to travel to Pueblo, Colorado, on Monday but decided to postpone the visit so he could consult with his aides and speak with fellow leaders about the unfolding situation in the Middle East.The announcements came after the president consulted with a trio of world leaders and his own national security team on Monday amid growing global concern about the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Gaza Strip and fears that the Israel-Hamas war could metastasize into a broader regional conflict.Biden spoke by phone with Mr. el-Sissi as well as the prime minister of Iraq, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, and the chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, about the fallout from Hamas’s surprise attacks on Israel that left 1,400 dead. Israel’s response has reportedly killed at least 2,778 Palestinians.European Union leaders will hold an emergency summit on Tuesday as concern mounts that the war between Israel and Hamas could fuel tensions in Europe and bring more refugees in search of sanctuary.Mr. Biden’s call with the Egyptian leader came one day after Mr. el-Sissi met with Blinken in Cairo. Egypt’s state-run media said Mr. el-Sissi told Mr. Blinken that Israel’s Gaza operation has exceeded “the right of self-defense” and turned into “a collective punishment.” Mr. Kirby declined to comment on Mr. el-Sissi’s concerns about how Israel is conducting the war.White House officials bristled about whether Mr. Biden would ask Mr. Netanyahu and Israel officials to show restraint or set any conditions on any new American military aid that could be in the pipeline. “We are not putting conditions on the military assistance that we are providing to Israel,” Mr. Kirby said. “They have a right to defend themselves. They have a right to go after this terrorist threat.”

Biden, Promising Unconditional Aid, To Visit Israel on Wednesday

Biden, Promising Unconditional Aid, To Visit Israel on Wednesday

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