Closing summary
Joe Biden has told Benjamin Netanyahu that future US support for the war in Gaza will depend on Israel taking concrete action to protect civilians and aid workers, as the two leaders held their first phone call since Israeli airstrikes killed seven employees of the international food charity World Central Kitchen (WCK). Biden’s comments were echoed by his secretary of state, Antony Blinken, who said US support would be curtailed if Israel failed to adjust its conduct.
Also:
The centrist group No Labels announced it will not field a third-party candidate for US president this year.
A federal judge refused to throw out the classified documents prosecution against Donald Trump, rejecting a defense argument that the case should be tossed because he was entitled as a former president to retain the records after he left office.
A Georgia judge rejected Trump’s bid to dismiss criminal charges in the state’s election interference against him on first amendment grounds.
Biden will travel to Baltimore tomorrow to receive an operational update on response efforts after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, the White House said.
Here’s more from secretary of state Antony Blinken’s briefing following a Nato meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels.
Blinken, speaking to reporters, reaffirmed the US’s commitment for Ukraine to eventually join Nato but held back commitments ahead of the alliance’s annual summit, which will take place in July. He said:
Ukraine will become a member of Nato. Our purpose at the summit is to help build a bridge to that membership.
He added that more aid is urgently needed for Ukraine, and that the message from Nato allies was clear that the Congress vote on aid for Ukraine cannot happen soon enough.
The Biden administration issued a new rule on Thursday making it harder to fire thousands of federal employees, hoping to head off the risk that if Donald Trump wins back the White House in November he won’t be able to bully and decimate the workforce as he imposes the radical ideologies he’s been pushing on the campaign trail, escalating what he did while in office.
New regulations coming out of the government’s chief human resources agency, the Office of Personnel Management, will bar career civil servants from being reclassified as political appointees or as other at-will workers – who are more easily dismissed from their jobs.
The move comes in response to so-called “Schedule F”, an executive order Trump issued in 2020 that sought to allow for reclassifying tens of thousands of the 2.2m federal employees and thus reduce their job security protections.
Biden nullified Schedule F upon taking office. But if Trump were to win the election for the Republicans and revive it during a second administration, he could dramatically increase number of federal employees – about 4,000 – who are considered political appointees and typically change with each new president.
In a statement issued Thursday, Biden called the rule a “step toward combatting corruption and partisan interference to ensure civil servants are able to focus on the most important task at hand: delivering for the American people”.
Here’s a clip from the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, who spoke about Joe Biden’s warning to Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that future US support for the war in Gaza depends on the swift implementation of new steps to protect civilians and aid workers.
The president “made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers,” the White House said in a statement after a call between Biden and Netanyahu.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Blinken said:
If we don’t see the changes that we need to see, there’ll be changes in our own policy.
“With regard to our policy in Gaza ... if we don't see the changes that we need to see, there'll be changes in our own policy.”
— The Recount (@therecount) April 4, 2024
— Sec. of State Antony Blinken, when asked what changes there will be if Israel doesn't create specific steps to protect civilians and aid workers pic.twitter.com/hUSIbarGKj
No Labels drops bid for third-party election ticket after spending millions
The centrist political group No Labels will not run a third-party campaign for the presidency in the 2024 election, after the group spent millions trying to recruit a candidate.
It emerged on Thursday afternoon that the group plans to announce it won’t field a so-called “unity ticket” that even if it was a long shot for the White House threaten to undermine Donald Trump or Joe Biden’s campaigns. The story was first reported by the Wall Street Journal and then reported by the Associated Press.
Democrats were particularly concerned that it would drain enough support from the president that he could lose his re-election bid, handing the White House back to former president Trump, who is signaling an even more extremist hard-right agenda if he wins a second term.
Conservative Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Nikki Haley, a Republican candidate for the nomination who lost out to Trump in the primaries, including losing her home state of South Carolina, where she had been a governor, were just two names floated for a No Labels ticket who reportedly turned the opportunity down.
No Labels was founded in 2009 by Nancy Jacobson, a prominent Washington political fundraiser.
Lawyers for Donald Trump had argued the criminal case charging him with retaining classified documents should be dismissed on grounds of presidential immunity, claiming they were his to keep because he designated them personal records while he was president.
The decision to designate the documents as personal records under the Presidential Records Act meant it was an official act of his presidency for which he could not face prosecution, his lawyers said.
Prosecutors working with the special counsel Jack Smith disputed the former president’s depiction of the records as personal. Trump was not authorized to hold on to secret information related to national security after leaving the White House even if he viewed the records as personal, they argued.
Trump loses bid to dismiss classified documents case on personal records claim
A federal judge has rejected Donald Trump’s motion to dismiss the criminal case over his retention of classified information because he viewed the material as his personal records.
Trump faces 40 charges arising from his retention of classified information after leaving the White House and alleged obstruction of attempts to recover such records. He has pleaded not guilty.
BREAKING: Judge Cannon denies Trump's motion to dismiss the Mar-a-Lago classified docs case on Presidential Records Act grounds https://t.co/llOQyugV4D
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) April 4, 2024
Biden feeling 'growing frustration' with Netanyahu, says White House
John Kirby, the national security spokesperson, said the call between Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu lasted about 30 minutes.
Asked if there had been growing frustration on the part of Biden that his previous messages to the Israeli leader hadn’t gotten through, Kirby said:
Yes, there’s been growing frustration.
White House spokesman refuses to say what Israel policies US could change
At a White House briefing, national security council spokesperson John Kirby was repeatedly asked what the US policy changes are on the table that would be determined by Washington’s assessment of Israel’s steps to address civilian harm in Gaza.
Kirby said he was not going to preview any potential policy decisions.
What we want to see are some real changes on the Israeli side. We don’t see changes from their side.
The US is looking for “concrete, tangible” steps “in the coming hours and days” that would include a dramatic increase in the humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza, additional crossings opening up, and a reduction in the violence against civilians and aid workers, he said.
We want to see that the Israelis are willing and able to take practical, immediate steps to protect a workers on the ground and to demonstrate that they have that civilian harm mitigation in place.
He said the US will “watch closely” for what steps Israel will take, and that Washington is not looking for just an announcement “but it’s the execution of those announcements and those decisions and implementing them.”
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Joe Biden will travel to Baltimore tomorrow to receive an operational update on response efforts after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, the White House said.
The president will meet with the loved ones of the six individuals who went missing and are presumed dead as a result of the incident, the White House’s press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
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Antony Blinken said he was “outraged” by the Israeli strike that killed seven aid workers in Gaza on Monday, and that he “strongly” condemns it.
He said the US’s conviction remains to see an immediate ceasefire to enable the release of hostages, and to enable a dramatic surge in humanitarian assistance, as well as better protecting civilians.
It is our expectation that Israel will and certainly should announce concrete, specific, measurable steps that it will take, and take as soon as possible to make sure that there can be an effective surge and assistance, that it can be sustained, and that humanitarian workers and civilians are better protected.
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Blinken suggests 'changes in policy' if Israel takes no action
Asked what aspects of US policy with respect to Gaza could change if Israel does not taken immediate concrete steps, Antony Blinken did not expand. He said:
If we don’t see the changes that we need to see, there’ll be changes in policy.
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Antony Blinken said the current reality in Gaza is that “despite important steps that Israel has taken to allow assistance into Gaza”, the results on the ground are “woefully insufficient and unacceptable”.
Humanitarian workers bringing aid into Gaza are doing so “heroically … in great peril to their own lives”, he said.
This week’s horrific attack on World Central Kitchen was not the first such incident. It must be the last.
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Blinken: Biden told Netanyahu strikes on aid workers in Gaza 'unacceptable'
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is currently holding a news conference in Brussels, where he is speaking about the recent call between Joe Biden and Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Biden “emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable”, Blinken said, echoing the White House’s readout of the phone call.
The US president “made clear the need for Israel to announce a series of specific, concrete and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering and the safety of aid workers,” Blinken said.
He made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps He underscored as well that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians.
Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu also “discussed public Iranian threats against Israel and the Israeli people”, the White House said.
Biden “made clear that the US strongly supports Israel in the face of those threats”, it said.
Biden told Netanyahu that US support depends on Israel's immediate new steps in Gaza - White House
The White House has released a readout of the phone call between Joe Biden and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
The US president emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are “unacceptable”, the White House said.
Biden “made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers”, it said.
He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps. He underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the prime minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home.
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The White House has confirmed that a phone call between Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu has ended.
A readout of the call will be issued soon, it said.
The call between the two leaders lasted less than 30 minutes, Reuters reported, citing a White House official.
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Georgia judge rejects Trump free speech challenge to election interference case
A Georgia judge has rejected Donald Trump’s bid to dismiss criminal charges in the state’s election interference against him on first amendment grounds.
In a 14-page ruling, Fulton County superior court judge Scott McAfee found that the indictment alleges statements by Trump and his co-defendants were made “in furtherance of criminal activity” and are not protected under free speech rights.
The court “finds these vital constitutional protections do not reach the actions and statements alleged” by the state, he wrote. Their motions to dismiss are “therefore denied”.
My colleague Hugo Lowell has a statement by Trump’s lawyer responding to the judge’s ruling:
Trump lawyer Steve Sadow statement: pic.twitter.com/6WlxCUwL1V
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) April 4, 2024
A phone call between Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu has ended after about 45 minutes, the Times of Israel is reporting.
We’ll bring you more information as soon as we hear it.
Elizabeth Warren said that she would block the sale of F-15s to Israel after an Israeli strike killed seven aid workers, the Hill reported.
The Massachusetts senator said that Congress had a “responsibility to act” and accused Israel of violating laws that require an access to humanitarian relief, during an interview with CNN News Central.
I think it is clear that Congress has a responsibility to act. We have legal tools here. And as I said, we cannot approve the sale of arms to a country that is in violation of our own laws on this. And that includes access to humanitarian relief…This is a moral question, it is also a legal question. Congress has responsibility here and I’m willing to take that responsibility…
Warren did not confirm if she is putting legislation on the floor to block any potential sale.
When asked, Warren said:
Actually, let’s put this in a slightly different context. We already have an established U.S. policy here.
Warren’s comments come as the US is preparing to sell Israel up to 50 F-15 fighter jets, 30 medium-range Air-to-Air Missiles, and other weapons, the Hill reported.
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Biden and Netanyahu speaking now in first call since aid workers were killed
Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu are now speaking for the first time since the Israeli attack on seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen, CNN reports.
The phone call comes after the US president has increasingly criticized the Israeli prime minister for failing to protect relief workers amid ongoing airstrikes in Gaza.
The White House previously said that Biden is outraged at the killing of relief workers. But Biden has not made changes to the US’s support of Israel or add conditions on any weapons sold.
Prior to Thursday’s conversation, a US official said that Biden is expected to bring up the need for better protections of aid workers and press for increased food deliveries in Gaza.
Hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza face starvation as Israel’s war in the territory continues.
More than 25 children in Gaza have died from complications associated with malnourishment, the World Health Organization reported.
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It is unclear if Biden’s outrage at the killing of aid workers by Israeli strikes will cause him to put conditions on weapons sent to Israel.
The White House has not confirmed if Biden’s fury at the situation will lead to consequences for Israel, the New York Times reported.
But Biden has harshly criticized Israel ahead of a call between Biden and Netanyahu scheduled for Thursday. Following the air strike against the World Central Kitchen (WCK) convoy, Biden said that Israel “has not done enough to protect aid workers,” the Times reported.
Other Democrats have more clearly called for Biden to “[change] course” after the killing of WCK relief workers.
“I hope this will be the moment where the president changes course,” said Chris Van Hollen, a Democratic Senator from Maryland, to the Times.
“Netanyahu ignored the president’s requests, and yet we send 2,000-pound bombs with no restrictions on their use,” he added.
But Democratic leaders have declined to call for restrictions on arms to Israel.
Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, declined to support a limit on the use of weapons, later refusing to discuss the topic with the Times.
Read the full analysis from the Times here (paywall).
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The international food charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) has called for an independent investigation into the Israeli strikes that killed seven of its aid workers in Gaza on Monday, as Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu were expected to discuss the attack on the phone.
WCK asked Australia, Canada, Poland, the US and the UK, whose citizens were killed, to join it in demanding “an independent, third-party’’ inquiry into the strikes.
“This was a military attack that involved multiple strikes and targeted three WCK vehicles,” the charity said in a statement.
All three vehicles were carrying civilians; they were marked as WCK vehicles; and their movements were in full compliance with Israeli authorities, who were aware of their itinerary, route and humanitarian mission. An independent investigation is the only way to determine the truth of what happened, ensure transparency and accountability for those responsible, and prevent future attacks on humanitarian aid workers.
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The World Central Kitchen (WCK) was one of few aid organizations permitted by Israeli authorities to deliver food to northern Gaza and has brought hundreds of tonnes of food aid into the Palestinian territory.
On Monday night, a convoy of three armored cars belonging to WCK was attacked while leaving a warehouse in Deir al-Balah.
According to a report in the Israeli daily Haaretz, an Israeli drone fired three missiles at the convoy of three armored cars – all of which were clearly marked on the roof and sides with the WCK’s logo – as they travelled back along a route pre-approved and coordinated with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
An Hermes 450 drone struck one car, causing some of the passengers to abandon it and switch to the other two vehicles. According to Haaretz, the team notified the IDF they had been attacked, but another missile then hit the second car.
Passengers in the third car tried to help the wounded, the newspaper said. According to the Guardian’s geolocation of the strikes, the last car was hit by a third missile about a mile farther south.
Video obtained by Reuters showed a large hole in the roof of a four-wheel-drive WCK vehicle and its burnt and torn interior, as well as paramedics moving bodies into a hospital and displaying the passports of three of those killed.
The seven victims were named by WCK as Britons John Chapman, 57, James Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47, who were working for the charity’s security team. The team’s leader, Lalzawmi (Zomi) Frankcom, 43, an Australian national, also died, along with American-Canadian dual citizen Jacob Flickinger, 33, Polish national Damian Sobol, 35, and Palestinian Saif Issam Abu Taha, 25.
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Ahead of an expected call between Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu today, Israel has said it will “adjust our practices” after seven aid workers working for World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza on Monday.
Asked to respond to comments by WCK founder José Andrés, who has said he believes his workers were “systematically” targeted by Israel Defense Forces, Israeli government spokesperson Raquela Karamson said:
This was unintended … In the coming weeks, as the findings become clear, we will be transparent and share the results with the public.
Speaking during a media briefing on Thursday, she added:
Clearly something went wrong here, and as we learn more and the investigation reveals exactly what happened, and the cause of what happened, we will certainly adjust our practices in the future to make sure this does not happen again.
The Israeli government had previously confirmed its military had carried out “an unintended strike”, with Israeli defense sources saying that the aid workers’ vehicles had been hit three times by missiles because of erroneous suspicions that a terrorist was traveling with the convoy.
Andrés has insisted that his team was in clear communication with the Israeli military, which he said knew his aid workers’ movements, and that the convoy “had signs in the top, in the roof, a very colorful logo … [it is] very clear who we are and what we do.”
Jill Biden privately urged Joe Biden to end conflict in Gaza - report
Jill Biden pleaded with her husband, Joe Biden, to “stop it, stop it now”, referring to the war in Gaza, the president told guests at the White House, according to a report.
At a meeting with Muslim community members on Tuesday, a guest told Biden that his wife had disapproved of him attending the event because of the president’s support for Israel in its war in Gaza, the New York Times reported yesterday. The report states:
Mr Biden replied that he understood. The first lady, he said, had been urging him to ‘Stop it, stop it now,’ according to an attendee who heard his remarks.
Asked about the president’s remarks, the White House said Jill Biden was not calling for Israel to end its war in Gaza, the paper said. In a statement, the first lady’s communications director Elizabeth Alexander said:
Just like the president, the first lady is heartbroken over the attacks on aid workers and the ongoing loss of innocent lives in Gaza. They both want Israel to do more to protect civilians.
At home, Joe Biden’s material support of Israel has alienated Arab Americans, other minorities, young and progressive Democrats, and as a result has jeopardised his prospects for winning the key swing state of Michigan at the very least, and with it possibly the whole general election.
A policy U-turn now would not be guaranteed to win those votes back, while it would risk alienating the instinctively pro-Israel parts of the Democratic coalition.
The last president to threaten to block weapons supplies to Israel was Republican Ronald Reagan, while the last Democratic president to seriously alienate Jewish Americans in his own party was Jimmy Carter, who authorised secret contacts in 1979 with the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, and paid an electoral price the following year, losing the 1980 election.
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Administration officials have faced questions almost daily as to why Joe Biden has not restricted or conditioned military aid on a change of Israeli behavior in Gaza.
The stock response has been that the Biden administration, while urging Israel to do more to protect the civilians of Gaza, should do nothing to limit Israel’s ability to defend itself, a touchstone of US foreign policy for more than half a century.
Democrats of all hues, whether they support the current policy or not, say that a change of course by the Biden administration on arms supplies is highly unlikely, for both policy and political reasons.
“He is not going to do it. He fundamentally believes Israel has a right to defend itself, and he believes that in his heart,” said a former senior Biden administration official of the president, adding: “There is zero probability in my view.”
Biden’s personal sense of commitment to Israel, cemented over decades of close contact with Israeli leaders, is a large part of the reason his administration is so resistant to change.
The reported approval last week of billions of dollars worth of US bombs and planes for Israel, as well as the reported transfer of thousands of bombs to Israel on the same day Israeli airstrikes killed seven aid workers, comes amid growing questions as to why continued US military aid is not being made conditional on a change of Israeli behavior to limit the civilian death toll and significantly expand aid delivery.
Among the weapons that were reportedly approved last week to Israel were 1,800 MK-84 2,000lb bombs, which can flatten an apartment block and leave an 11-metre deep crater. It is a devastating weapon that has reportedly been used frequently by the Israeli air force, playing a significant role in the estimated 33,000 death toll in Gaza since October.
The news that the nearly $4bn a year arms pipeline from the US to Israel remained in full uninterrupted flow drew a furious reaction from critics, who pointed to the irony of the Biden administration urging a ceasefire and the delivery of food aid into Gaza while supplying the weapons that fuel both the war and the humanitarian crisis.
José Andrés, the celebrity chef and founder of the non-profit World Central Kitchen (WCK), has condemned Israeli airstrikes that killed seven of his aid workers in Gaza and called for an investigation of the incident by the US government.
Andrés, who is Spanish born and now a US citizen, in an interview yesterday said the Israeli attack had targeted his workers taking food shipments from a warehouse in Deir al-Balah “systematically, car by car”.
He said the WCK had clear communication with the Israeli military, which he said knew his aid workers’ movements.
“This was not just a bad luck situation where ‘oops’ we dropped the bomb in the wrong place,” he said, rejecting Israeli and US assertions that the strike was not deliberate. He said:
They were targeting us in a deconflicting zone, in an area controlled by IDF [Israel Defense Forces]. They knowing that it was our teams moving on that road ... with three cars.
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Biden administration approved more bombs to Israel on day of Gaza aid convoy strike - report
The US authorized the transfer of thousands of bombs to Israel on the same day Israeli airstrikes killed seven aid workers working for the World Central Kitchen (WCK) in Gaza, the Washington Post reported, citing multiple officials.
The state department approved the transfer of more than 1,000 MK82 500lb bombs, more than 1,000 small-diameter bombs, and fuses for MK80 bombs to Israel, it said. The transfer authorization was also reported by CNN.
According to the Post, a state department confirmed the approval and said it occurred sometime “prior” to when the Israeli aircraft struck the aid convoy. A day after the attack, Joe Biden released a statement that he was “outraged and heartbroken” by the deaths of the aid workers, which included a US-Canada dual citizen.
Last week, the US reportedly authorized the transfer of similar weaponry worth billions of dollars to Israel, including more than 1,800 MK-84 2,000lb bombs and 500 MK-82 500lb bombs.
Washington gives $3.8bn in annual military assistance to Israel, its longtime ally. The latest transfers came from authorizations granted by Congress several years before the Israel-Gaza war began in October, but the US government has the authority to suspend an arms package any time before delivery.
Asked why the Biden administration did not pause the process after the Israeli drone attack on the WCK humanitarian aid convoy, the state department spokesperson did not comment, the Post wrote.
During the 90-minute meeting last Tuesday, defense secretary Lloyd Austin pressed his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, to ensure that any Israeli military operation in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah would prioritize the protection of civilians and secure the delivery of aid, according to a Pentagon official.
Speaking after his meeting with Gallant, which also included the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen CQ Brown, Austin said it was a moral and strategic imperative to protect Palestinian civilians, but there was nothing to suggest that he sought to condition future US military aid to Israel on an improvement of the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
The meeting at the Pentagon came a day after Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, abruptly canceled a high-level visit to Washington over the US abstention in a UN security council vote to call for an immediate ceasefire in the Palestinian territory.
Austin expressed 'outrage' over Gaza aid convoy strike in call with Israel
Defense secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, in a phone call yesterday in which he expressed his “outrage” over the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) strike on Monday that killed seven aid workers trying to deliver much-needed food to Gaza.
A readout of the call, published last night by the Pentagon’s press secretary, Maj Gen Patrick Ryder, states:
Secretary Austin expressed his outrage at the Israeli strike on a World Central Kitchen humanitarian aid convoy that killed seven aid workers, including an American citizen. Secretary Austin stressed the need to immediately take concrete steps to protect aid workers and Palestinian civilians in Gaza after repeated coordination failures with foreign aid groups.
Austin also urged Gallant to conduct a “swift and transparent investigation, to share their conclusions publicly, and to hold those responsible to account”, it said.
Austin’s comments on Wednesday marked a significant change in tone from previous calls between the US and Israeli defense ministers, and comes after the pair held talks last week in Washington in what the Pentagon later described as a frank and direct discussion.
Joe Biden, in a statement after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) drone attack on Monday that killed seven people working for the World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity, said Israel was not doing enough to protect aid workers and called for a swift investigation into the strike.
In comments that were highly critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza, Biden said:
This conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed.
He said he was “outraged and heartbroken” by the aid workers’ deaths and highlighted that this was not a standalone incident.
This is a major reason why distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza has been so difficult – because Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians … Israel has also not done enough to protect civilians.
Among those killed in the attack was Jacob Flickinger, a US-Canada dual citizen working for WCK, as well as three British nationals, an Australian, a Polish national and a Palestinian.
Biden and Netanyahu to speak for first time since Gaza aid convoy attack
Good morning US politics readers. Joe Biden and Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, are expected to hold their first call since Israeli airstrikes that killed seven aid workers in Gaza on Monday.
Biden, in a statement the following day, said he was “outraged and heartbroken” by the deaths of the World Central Kitchen (WCK) humanitarian workers, who included an American-Canadian dual citizen, and is fully prepared to make his feelings clear to Netanyahu in their conversation today, CNN reported, citing a senior administration official. The president “is pissed. The temperature regarding Bibi is very high,” an official told Axios.
Biden’s criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza, where authorities say more than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed since 7 October, has grown over recent weeks and his frustration with Netanyahu has become increasingly visible. The president has faced increasing pressure over his handling of the war, including from the first lady, Jill Biden, who reportedly pleaded with her husband to “stop it, stop it now”. Meanwhile, defense secretary Lloyd Austin “expressed his outrage” at the aid convoy strike in a call on Wednesday with his counterpart, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant, according to the Pentagon.
The Biden administration, however, has continued to affirm its support of Israel in the wake of the Israeli drone strike, and Biden has shown no signs of trying to restrict or withhold US military aid to Israel. Just this week it was reported that the administration is close to approving a major new weapons sale to Israel worth more than $18bn that will include up to 50 US-made F-15 fighter jets.
Here’s what else we’re watching:
1.30pm ET. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will brief.
5pm. Joe Biden will host a reception celebrating Greek Independence Day at the White House.
