Biden calls Israel’s military response in Gaza ‘over the top’

President Biden criticizes Israel's military response in Gaza, calls for it to stop, and discusses humanitarian aid efforts.

Israel’s military response in the Gaza Strip to the October 7 attacks by Hamas has been “over the top” and has “got to stop,” U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday.

“I’m of the view, as you know, that the conduct of the response in Gaza, in the Gaza Strip, has been over the top,” the Democrat told presspersons at the White House.

“There are a lot of innocent people who are starving, a lot of innocent people who are in trouble and dying, and it’s got to stop.”

American support for Israel’s war on the Palestinian militant group has sparked a flurry of attacks on U.S. troops in the region, as well as criticism of the Biden administration at home and abroad.

Months of bombardment and siege have deepened a humanitarian crisis across Gaza.

But Mr. Biden, 81, said he had pushed to get humanitarian assistance into the territory.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi initially “did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian material to get in”, Mr. Biden said.