Israel-Hamas war: Biden warns Israel not to be consumed by rage

Joe Biden made clear he came to Israel with a single message: “You are not alone”.

The Hamas attack left deep wound among Israelis, the US president said – but he urged the country not to make “mistakes” like US after the September 11 2001 terror attacks.

And he reiterated his support for a two-state solution to the conflict.

After talking to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he posted on social media: “I asked tough questions as a friend of Israel. We will continue to deter any actor wanting to widen this conflict.”

The United States has vetoed a UN resolution that would have condemned Hamas’s attacks on Israel and all violence against civilians, and urged humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.

The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 12 votes in favour, the US against and two abstentions.

US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the vote that President Joe Biden was in the region engaging in diplomacy “and we need that diplomacy to play out”.

She also criticised the resolution for not saying anything about Israel’s right to self-defence.

Before the vote on the resolution sponsored by Brazil, council members rejected two Russian amendments, one calling for a “humanitarian ceasefire” and the other condemning indiscriminate attacks on civilians and “civilian objects” in Gaza, which include hospitals and schools.

President Joe Biden has vowed the United States will do everything it can to ensure the country is safe.

Mr Biden urged Israelis not to be consumed by rage, saying the vast majority of Palestinians were not affiliated with Hamas. The Palestinian people were suffering as well, he said.

The president made reference to the Nazi Holocaust of World War Two when saying that Israel had the backing of its friends.

“We will not stand by and do nothing again. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever,” he said.

“The terrorists will not win. Freedom will win,” President Joe Biden said in a powerful speech in Tel Aviv.

“Israel you are not alone,” he added.

Mr Biden went on: “I’ve made wartime decisions. I know the choices are never clear or easy for leadership. There’s always cost.

“It requires being deliberate. It requires asking very hard questions. It requires clarity about the objectives, and an honest assessment about whether the path you’re on while achieve those objectives.”

President Joe Biden has announced $100m in US assistance to Gaza and West Bank to support those displaced due to the violence in the Middle East.

“What sets us apart from terrorists is we believe in the dignity of every human life,” he said.

The president has come under increasing pressure to address the escalating humanitarian issues facing civilians in Gaza since the war broke out on 7 October.

The president warned people not to be consumed by anger, as he compared the Hamas attacks to September 11 in the US.

“I caution this while you feel that rage, don’t be consumed by it. After 9/11, we were enraged in the United States. While we sought justice and got justice, we also made mistakes,” he said.

The US stood with Israelis, he insisted.

Mr Biden told reporters that the Hamas attacks bring back memories of the Holocaust as he insisted that Israel is “not alone”.

“I come to Israel with a single message: you’re not alone, you’re not alone,” he said.

“As long as the US stands – it will stand forever – you will not be alone.”

Mr Biden said that the Hamas attacks “brought to surface painful memories of antisemitism” seen in the Holocaust.

While he said the world watched that happen back then, he vowed this time round that won’t happen.

“We will not stand by and do nothing again. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever,” he said.

Other nations and hostile actors should not think of attacking Israel, the US president warned.

The vast majority of Palestinians were not Hamas, he said.