Biden says US policy in Gaza hinges on Israel protecting civilians in call with Netanyahu: Live

Joe Biden told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that US policy in Gaza would be determined by Israel’s efforts to protect civilians and aid workers.

A readout from the phone call released by the White House said that Mr Biden “emphasised that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable. He 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 president “made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps,” the readout continued.

The call between the two leaders comes as Mr Biden faces increasing pressure from a growing chorus of voices who are fed up with what they perceive as a callous refusal to rein in Israeli violations of international humanitarian law.

Humanitarian food charity World Central Kitchen has called for an independent investigation into the strike that killed seven of its aid workers on Monday.

WCK issued a statement on Thursday morning calling for the governments of Australia, Canada, the US, the UK and Poland – the countries from which six of the workers hailed – to join a third-party investigation into the drone bombardment on the charity’s convoy.

The investigation must establish “whether [the drone strikes] were carried out intentionally or otherwise violated international law”, it said in a statement on Thursday.

On Tuesday Mr Biden delivered some of his strongest criticism of Israel since it began its war on Hamas, saying he was “outraged and heartbroken” by the deaths of the humanitarian workers.

“Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians,” the president said in a statement.

Mr Netanyahu wrote on X that Israel “deeply regrets” the deaths of the aid workers.