Ten days into the deadliest violence in Gaza since 2014, an international consensus has emerged for a cease-fire.
On Wednesday morning, President Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone and “conveyed to the Prime Minister that he expected a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire,” according to a White House readout of the call. The public rebuke is a departure from the behind-the-scenes pressure the Biden administration had been placing on Israel. From a Politico article published Tuesday night:
Amid conversations with counterparts in the region, senior Biden administration officials determined that the best way to tighten the time frame was to push Israel from behind the scenes, not publicly demand a cease-fire or support a U.N. Security Council resolution doing so.
“Our focus has not changed,” a White House deputy press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said on Wednesday morning. “We are working towards a de-escalation.”
Axios reports that “Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also spoke to his Israeli counterpart Benny Gantz on Wednesday about the need for a cease-fire.”
Yesterday, Netanyahu tweeted that the attack on Hamas militants would “continue as long as necessary to restore calm to the citizens of Israel.” But Politico reports that American officials think a staggered de-escalation might be in sight: “The “end” may come in stages, with initial pauses of rocket and missile exchanges to allow for humanitarian aid, before a final end to the violence.”
Meanwhile, The New York Times notes that a “growing chorus of international parties urged the Israeli military and Hamas militants to lay down their weapons. France is leading efforts to call for a cease-fire at the United Nations Security Council.”
On Tuesday, France said it had drafted a cease-fire resolution after consulting with leaders in Egypt and Jordan. It is unclear when the resolution might be submitted to the United Nations Security Council, where the U.S. stands as Israel’s biggest ally.
According to the Gaza health ministry, 219 Palestinians – including dozens of children – have died during the violence. More than 58,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced from their homes, according to the United Nations. Hamas continues to fire rockets into Israel, which has suffered 12 casualties.