Biden says doesn’t know ‘for fact’ that no hostages being held in Hamas tunnels

US President Joe Biden speaks during a joint press conference with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next to the White House in Washington, on December 12, 2023. (Mandel Ngan/AFP)

US President Joe Biden is asked about reports that Israel has begun pumping seawater into Hamas tunnels in Gaza.

“With regard to the flooding of the tunnels… There (are) assertions being made that there [are] no hostages in any of these tunnels, but I don’t know that for a fact,” Biden says in response to a question on the matter during a press conference at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky.

“I do know that, though, every civilian death is an absolute tragedy, and Israel has stated its intent to match its words with actions,” the American president adds.

White House ‘urgently’ pressing Israel to reopen Gaza crossing for aid deliveries

Illustrative: A fuel truck enters the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel, in Rafah in the southern Palestinian enclave, following a truce, on August 8, 2022. (SAID KHATIB / AFP)

The Biden administration doubles down on its request that Israel reopen the Kerem Shalom Crossing so that more aid can be delivered into Gaza.

Israel did agree to begin conducting inspections of aid trucks at Kerem Shalom yesterday, but a White House National Security Council spokesperson tells The Times of Israel that this step is insufficient on its own.

“We have made this request for quite some time now, the spokesperson says, noting that US President Joe Biden raised the request during his call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week.

“The Israeli government’s answer has been that they can build the capacity of Rafah to get enough humanitarian assistance in, but [we] have definitively reached the conclusion that that is not the case,” the NSC spokesperson says.

“It is a question we are making with a level of urgency and immediacy now, that we would hope for a response from the Israeli government on soon,” the spokesperson adds. “Kerem Shalom should be open indefinitely, but at the least it should be open for as long as there is the humanitarian need.”

Discussing the matter earlier this week, Netanyahu did not rule out the possibility that he would heed the US request, acknowledging that Israel’s international bandwidth to prosecute the war against Hamas is greater when it allows more aid into Gaza.

In the early days of the war, Netanyahu took a different approach, asserting that no aid would be allowed into Gaza, as long as the hostages remain there.

But after a two-week siege and mounting international pressure, Israel agreed to allow aid to come in through Egypt’s Rafah crossing.

It later agreed to allow fuel in as well, with Netanyahu arguing that Israel would have to stop fighting if disease began to spread in the Strip.

However, Kerem Shalom has remained closed since the war’s outbreak, as Jerusalem has sought to “disconnect” from Gaza more directly.

Israel has argued in recent days that it has the capabilities in place to allow in more aid and that the bottleneck is due to Egypt and UN, but the NSC spokesperson appears to reject that argument.

PA envoy hails ‘historic’ UN General Assembly vote for Gaza ceasefire

Palestinian Authority Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour, flanked by representatives of Arab countries, speaks to the press after a UN Security Council meeting on a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, at UN headquarters in New York on December 8, 2023. (Charly Triballeau/AFP)

UNITED NATIONS — The Palestinian Authority’s envoy to the United Nations says the overwhelming vote in favor of a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, in which 153 countries backed a downing of arms, marks a “historic day.”

“Today was a historic day in terms of the powerful message that was sent from the General Assembly. And it is our collective duty to continue in this path until we see an end to this aggression against our people,” says the PA Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour.

IDF says aircraft and tanks struck sites in Lebanon, Syria after rocket attacks on north

The IDF says aircraft and tanks completed a series of strikes in southern Lebanon and Syria in response to rocket attacks on northern Israel earlier.

In Syria, the IDF says it hit Syrian Army infrastructure, including an observation post, and in Lebanon, it says it hit a Hezbollah rocket launcher.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for several rocket and missile attacks from Lebanon today. Meanwhile three rockets were also fired from Syria, apparently by an Iran-backed group.

כלי טיס וטנקים של צה"ל תקפו לפני זמן קצר מספר תשתיות צבאיות ועמדה צבאית של צבא סוריה בשטח סוריה.

בנוסף מטוס קרב של חיל האוויר תקף לפני זמן קצר תשתית צבאית וכוחות צה"ל תקפו עמדת משגר של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בשטח לבנון pic.twitter.com/Z2UjxBn3xB

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) December 12, 2023