AMN / WEB DESK
US President Joe Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced in the early hours today from Tel Aviv. US President Joe Biden yesterday said the terrorist organisation, Hamas, does not represent all Palestinian people. Biden insisted that Hamas should be entirely eliminated.
On the other hand, he warned that the Israeli occupation of Gaza would be a big mistake. Biden in his statement said he supports a humanitarian corridor that allows people to get out of Gaza, as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid, including food and water. He added that he is confident that Israel is going to act under the rules of war. This comes amid criticism of Israel for flouting all international norms since the beginning of the conflict.
In the meantime, European Union leaders are likely to hold an emergency summit today as concern mounts that the war between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas could fuel inter-communal tensions in Europe and bring more refugees in search of sanctuary. The meeting will also focus on getting aid to civilians and working with other countries in the region to try to stop tensions from spreading. The war between Israel and the Hamas terrorists entered its 11th day today and is expected to escalate further. Israel’s death toll mounted to 1400 and more than 2,800 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, taking the total death count close to 4200 on both sides.
However, amid the growing tensions, the Pentagon is rapidly doubling the amount of American firepower deployed in the Middle East in an effort to deter a wider regional war. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J Austin III said that the US had ordered a second aircraft carrier, Eisenhower to join Gerald R. Ford Carrier in the eastern Mediterranean “to deter hostile actions against Israel.
The US Air Force is also rushing additional land-based attack planes to the Persian Gulf region, doubling the number of F-16, A-10 and F-15E squadrons on the ground. For now, U.S. officials said, the deployment of additional forces is meant to deter Iran, Syria or any Iran-backed proxy groups, like Hezbollah, from joining the conflict. For Israel and the Palestinians’ immediate neighbors – Egypt and Jordan – the fear of displacement and destabilization crossing their borders is paramount. For regional states further afield, the concern is the impact on their domestic stability as their populations react to the unfolding crisis.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Moscow wanted to help prevent a humanitarian disaster in Gaza. In a statement from Kremlin, Putin expressed Russia’s willingness to work towards “ending the Palestinian-Israeli confrontation and achieving a peaceful settlement through political and diplomatic means”.