Biden Denies Demanding Israel Delay Invasion | Politics | U.S. News – U.S. News & World Report

President Joe Biden, walking a delicate line that has implications for foreign and domestic politics, had stern words Wednesday for both Israel and Hamas, again publicly imploring Israel to limit civilian casualties while also blaming Hamas for making Israel’s task harder by using Palestinian civilians as human shields.

“Hamas is hiding behind Palestinian civilians, and it’s despicable and, not surprisingly, cowardly, as well,” Biden said in a Rose Garden press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is in Washington for a formal state visit.

“This also puts an added burden on Israel while they go after Hamas, but that does not lessen the need for – to operate in line with the laws of war,” Biden said.

In his first press conference since Hamas attacked Israel Oct, 7, Biden also said he was alarmed by reports that Israeli settlers were attacking Palestinians in the West Bank.

They are “pouring gasoline on a fire. … It has to stop. They have to be held accountable. It has to stop now,” Biden said.

Hamas has been operating from the Gaza Strip, a densely populated area in the west side of Israel, which is now under fire from Israel as it seeks to eradicate the designated terrorist group.

But the West Bank is a major point of contention between Palestinians and Israel, whose prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has encouraged Israeli settlements there. That undermines international efforts to achieve a two-state solution – something Biden said again Wednesday was the only path to a future in Israel where both Jews and Palestinians could live in peace and dignity.

The crisis in Israel has brought out deep divisions among Americans. Some of those who support the Palestinian cause in general have blamed Israel for the Hamas attack, infuriating Jewish groups who note that Jews in Israel have long lived in fear of attacks from Hamas and other designated terrorist groups.

Reports of many thousands of deaths in Gaza have added to the outrage – but Biden said he could not trust those reports from Palestinian authorities.

“I have no notion if Palestinians are telling the truth. … I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it is the price of waging war,” Biden said. “Israel should be incredibly careful to ensure they’re going after the folks propagating this war.”

He said that, while he has no proof, he believes the Hamas attack was a way to disrupt efforts to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Biden has repeatedly pleaded with people to separate the Palestinians in general from Hamas – which he says has endangered Palestinians as well by making it extremely difficult for Israel to find and punish Hamas fighters among the civilian population.

And while the president has implored Israel not to use the shocking Hamas attack to justify an equally brutal attack on Gaza, he said he did not demand, in a recent conversation with Netanyahu, that the Israeli prime minister delay a planned ground attack on the region until all of the 200-plus hostages are released.

If it’s possible for Israel to delay, “they should,” the president said. “The question is whether or not there’s any way of getting them out. If we can get them out, we should get them out.”