The Buzz | Biden raises cease-fire, civilian toll in call to Netanyahu

President Joe Biden expressed support for a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers in a call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but he stopped short of demanding an immediate stop to the eight days of Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rocket barrages that have killed more than 200 people, most of them Palestinian.
Biden’s carefully worded statement, in a White House readout yesterday [Macau time] of his second known call to Netanyahu in three days as the attacks pounded on, came with the administration under pressure to respond more forcefully despite its determination to wrench the U.S. foreign policy focus away from Middle East conflicts.
Biden’s comments on a cease-fire were open-ended and were similar to previous administration statements of support in principle for a cease-fire.
That’s in contrast to demands from dozens of Democratic lawmakers and others for an immediate halt by both sides.