At the ‘Bidenomics’ session, Biden talked about the delicate situation in the Middle East.
When the prisoners are freed, he continued, “we’ll talk.”
A second set of the estimated 200 hostages were freed by Hamas.
Rejecting calls for a cease-fire in Gaza, President Joe Biden stated on Monday that if Hamas releases the prisoners that its fighters kidnapped from Israel, “then we’ll talk.”
Shortly after news broke that Hamas had freed two of the four captives it had been holding inside Gaza following the terror incident on October 7, he said as much at the White House.
At the conclusion of a presentation on his economic agenda, he was questioned about having hostages released in exchange for a ceasefire.
“After those hostages are freed, we should have a conversation,” Biden replied.
Israel is seeking the release of every one of the 200 hostages that Hamas fighters are believed to have taken during their cross-border incursion.
In addition to massing forces on the border and calling up reserves, it has been hitting targets within Gaza.
At a gathering designed to promote his “Bidenomics” plan, Biden concluded by mentioning a development in national security.
He said, “I’m sorry, but I have to go to the Situation Room to deal with another issue.”
After the initial news reports of the rescue of a second pair of hostages, his event on Monday started about an hour later than planned.
Last week, while the Biden administration was negotiating to help arrange the first convoy of humanitarian goods to Gaza, Hamas released two American terrorists.
The president addressed the crowd as demonstrators demanded a halt to hostilities and some “squad” members charged the Israeli government and Hamas with “war crimes.”
John Kirby, the national security spokesman for the White House, stated on multiple occasions on Monday that the administration’s goal was to achieve the release of hostages, provide relief to the Palestinian people in Gaza, and provide Israel with the instruments it needs.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that as of October 7, there were eleven Americans who were still missing.
On Monday, Kirby reiterated that figure.
According to him, “just a handful” of Americans are thought to be held captive.
He was questioned at the briefing over a request for a “humanitarian cease fire” made by UN agencies.
Right now, we want to ensure that Israel has the means to combat Hamas and protect itself.
And the aid for the needy never stops.
It’s a positive thing that it’s started now.
Our goal is to maintain its viability and continuation.
That is our main concern.
When questioned if Israel was following international law, he remained silent.
Speaking out in public, President Biden has emphasised over and again that the United States stands with Israel and that democracies must abide by the laws of war.
“Since we aren’t present on the battlefield, we won’t be breaking down every single incident that occurs,” Kirby stated.
“I can tell you that we haven’t had a single conversation—at any level—with our Israeli counterparts where we haven’t discussed not only what they want to accomplish, but also how they want to accomplish it,” Kirby stated.
Biden was questioned over his discussion with Pope Francis as well.
The Holy See claims that during their 20-minute conversation on Sunday, the two discussed “the need to identify paths to peace.”
“I am in agreement with the pope,” stated Biden.
He claimed that the Pope was’very concerned’ in the current challenges, which includes the situation in Israel.
He ‘laid out to him what the game plan was,’ according to Biden, including giving Israel the support it needed.
The pope was overwhelmingly favourable, according to Biden.
Biden “condemned the barbaric attack by Hamas against Israeli civilians, affirmed the need to protect civilians in Gaza, and discussed his efforts to ensure delivery of food and medicine into Gaza, as well as the need to ‘prevent escalation’ and work towards ‘durable peace,'” according to an official White House readout made public on Sunday.
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