In a bid to help the conflict-hit Palestinians, the United States President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced a $100 million humanitarian aid to Gaza and the West Bank. In an address during his brief visit to Israel's Tel Aviv, Biden underscored the dire need for food, water, medicine and shelter in the devastated Gaza Strip.
In his address, Biden has also urged the Israeli cabinet to agree to the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza.
Regarding the announcement of the $100 million humanitarian aid to Gaza and the West Bank, the US President Biden wrote on X, "This money will support over 1 million displaced and conflict-affected Palestinians. And we will have mechanisms in place so this aid reaches those in need – not Hamas or terrorist groups."
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The decision of announcing the humanitarian aid came a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken asserted that the US and Israel were on the same page in the matter of developing a plan to get humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza without benefiting Hamas.
What did Biden say?
In context of US' unwavering support for Israel, Biden said, "My message to any state or any other hostile actor thinking about attacking Israel remains the same as it was a week ago - Don't. Don't. Don't."
Drawing comparisons to the attack on Israel by Hamas to the 9/11 twin tower attacks in the US, Biden said, "We have seen it described as Israel's 9/11. But for a nation the size of Israel, it was like fifteen 9/11s."
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"You are a Jewish state, but you're also a democracy," Biden said after meeting Israeli leaders.
"Like the United States, you don't live by the rules of terrorists. You live by the rule of law... You can't give up what makes you who you are."
Biden stressed that the vast majority of Palestinians were not affiliated with Hamas.
