US President Joe Biden has committed to pay a high-profile visit to Israel on Wednesday to show his support for Israel’s fight against Hamas.
Biden’s planned visit comes on the heels of announcement that Isreali Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
According to US National Security spokesman John Kirby, Biden will fly to Jordan after visiting Israel to meet with King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Trucks carrying crucial supplies for Gaza arrived at Egypt’s Rafah crossing, the only way into the region not controlled by Israel.
A witness told journalists that 160 trucks had left the nearby Egyptian town of Al-Arish, where they had been backed up for days while diplomats attempted to clear the road.
After Hamas terrorists killed 1,300 people, mostly civilians, during a rampage through southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, the worst single day in Israel’s 75-year history, Israel has threatened to eliminate the Hamas faction that governs Gaza.
Israel has bombarded the Hamas-ruled Gaza territory with air strikes, killing over 2,800 Palestinians and displacing nearly half of the 2.3 million Gazans.
It has maintained a comprehensive embargo on the Gaza Strip, preventing all aid, including food, fuel, and medical supplies, from reaching the territory.
At the end of hours of talks with Netanyahu, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed Biden’s planned visit.
He stated that Netanyahu has promised to devise a strategy for delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza people.
“The president will hear from Israel what it needs to defend its people as we continue to work with Congress to meet those needs,” Blinken said.
Biden would also “hear from Israel how it will conduct its operations in a way that minimizes civilian casualties and enables humanitarian assistance to flow to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not benefit Hamas.”
After Iran threatened “preemptive action” from the “resistance front” of its allies, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah organization, Washington is also attempting to unite Arab states to help prevent a larger regional war.
The Israeli military claimed overnight strikes on Hamas and Islamic Jihad military sites, including Hamas’ headquarters and a bank used by the group.
According to Gaza’s interior ministry, at least 49 Palestinians were killed in a nighttime Israeli strike on residences in Khan Younis and Rafah.
According to Israel, Hamas fighters took 199 hostages during their rampage.
Foreigners among the hostages were described by Hamas as “guests” who would be released “when circumstances permit,” implying that the group intends to exchange Israeli captives for thousands of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
