Biden says US working with Israel, UN to ease humanitarian consequences in Gaza

In a post online, President Biden said he is working with several countries, including Israel, and the United Nations to ease the humanitarian consequences of the Hamas attacks.

“The U.S. is working with the governments of Israel, Egypt, Jordan — and with the UN — to surge support to ease the humanitarian consequences of Hamas’s attack, create conditions needed to resume the flow of assistance, and advocate for the upholding of the law of war,” Biden said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Biden has previously vowed U.S. support for Israel in its war with Palestinian militant group Hamas, after the group invaded the country last week. He spoke with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said the U.S. is ready to offer “all appropriate means of support.”

During his call with Netanyahu, Biden reaffirmed his support for all efforts to protect civilians and call for all nations to “unequivocally condemn Hamas as a terrorist organization,” according to the White House.

A second shipment of American weapons and ammunition arrived in Israel Friday, fulfilling Biden’s promise to back the country in its war.

Following the initial attack, Israel cut off supplies to Gaza, including food, water, fuel and medicine. Gaza’s access point into Egypt was also closed as a result of the attack.

The Israel Defense Force announced Friday that 1 million residents of Gaza City had 24 hours to evacuate, ahead of a possible ground operation. People began fleeing southward, but many officials are concerned that it’s impossible for that amount of people to evacuate in such a short time period.

Many progressive lawmakers have put pressure on Biden over Israel’s response to the attacks. The group condemns the surprise attack by Hamas and said they were “deeply concerned” about Israel’s response.

The conflict has reportedly cost more than 2,800 lives on both sides.