Metropolis Desk-
In response to a heckler during a campaign rally in Minnesota on Wednesday night, President Joe Biden expressed his belief that the Israeli-Hamas conflict should cease temporarily to free “prisoners” from Gaza.
As the 80-year-old Democrat was speaking to about 200 fans in the US state’s north, someone in the crowd called out to him.
She referred to the terrible battle between Israel and Hamas and stated, “As a rabbi, I need you to call for a ceasefire right now.”
“I believe we need a pause,” the president retorted. A pause allows time to free the inmates.”
When questioned about his comments, the White House subsequently made it clear that the president was talking to Hamas hostages when he used the word “prisoners”.
Continuing his conversation with the woman, Biden called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “Bibi.”
“I am the one who persuaded Bibi to request a truce to release the detainees. I am the one who spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to persuade him to let liberated hostages exit Gaza by opening the border with Egypt.
Biden said he was talking about the recent freeing of two American captives who were previously under the control of the Palestinian Islamist organization.
Though it has so far refused to consider a ceasefire, the White House believes that it would only serve to strengthen Hamas’s position. The White House has previously advocated for “humanitarian pauses” to allow aid to be brought into Gaza or to carry out evacuations.
On Wednesday, the Israeli-Hamas war entered its 26th day.
The Israeli army has been bombing the Gaza Strip nonstop in retribution for Hamas’s horrific attack on October 7 and has begun a more extended ground campaign into the region.
Source- Al Jazeera
