As violence between Palestine and Israel entered its second deadly week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for a cease-fire.
“It has become even more apparent that a ceasefire is necessary. There must be a serious effort on the part of both parties to end the violence and respect the rights of both the Israeli and Palestinian people,” Pelosi said in a statement.
Pelosi also expressed dismay that “Hamas exploited a volatile situation to initiate hostilities” and said she supports Israel’s “right to defend herself.”
Pelosi is the latest Democratic lawmaker to call for a break in the hostilities between Israel and Palestine. Yesterday, twenty-nine Democratic and independent senators issued a joint statement calling for an immediate cease-fire.
Biden also expressed support for a cease-fire in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. The New York Times reports that Biden’s private conversation with Netanyahu was a break from his public rhetoric:
President Biden on Monday delivered a firmer message in private to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel than he has done in public, warning that he could put off growing pressure from the international community and from Congress to call on Israel to change its approach to Hamas for only so long, according to two people familiar with the call.
The private message hinted at a time limit on Mr. Biden’s ability to provide diplomatic cover for the actions of the Israeli government, as well as a new dynamic in American politics: the president presenting himself as a closer friend to Israel than it might find in Congress.
In Detroit on Tuesday, Biden met with one of Congress’s fiercest critics of Israel, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). The Financial Times provides details:
The two spoke for “a few minutes”, according to a media pool report.
On Monday she claimed Washington was “taking orders” from Netanyahu and said the US president should condemn Israel’s military actions in an interview broadcast on the news channel MSNBC.
“Americans are standing strong and . . . saying: ‘Enough, President Biden’,” said Tlaib, as she accused Biden of enabling Israel. “You will not do this on our watch. You have to speak out against this violence in a very aggressive way that holds Netanyahu and his leadership accountable.
“It’s shocking, the hypocrisy of us saying that we need to be stewards of human rights, except for Palestinians,” she added.
After the meeting with Tlaib, Biden praised her in a speech to autoworkers, “I admire your intellect, I admire your passion, and I admire your concern for so many other people,” Biden said. “And it’s my from my heart, I pray that your grandmom and family are well—I promise I’m going to do everything you see that they are in the West Bank. You’re a fighter, and God thank you for being a fighter.”
On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal provided an update on the violence in Gaza:
Scores of civilians have been killed and displaced from their homes since the current fighting began on May 10. At least 213 people, including 61 children, have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry. More than 1,400 Palestinians have been injured and tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes, according to the ministry and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.