Biden contacting allies to warn parties against taking advantage of Israel-Gaza violence

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Joe Biden directed his senior officials on Monday to work with regional allies to warn any party against taking advantage of the ongoing conflict in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

During a morning gathering, Biden "directed his team to follow up on coordination with Israel on all aspects of the crisis and to continue their work with regional partners to warn anyone who might seek to take advantage in this situation," the White House said in a statement.

"This afternoon, President Biden will be speaking with several of our close allies about the latest developments in Israel and we will have more to share soon," it added.

The Monday morning meeting included Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer, Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall, and White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients.

Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel early Saturday, firing a barrage of rockets and infiltrating Israel by land, air and sea. It said the surprise attack was in response to the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, and increased settler violence against Palestinians.

At least 900 Israelis have been killed since Saturday, and over 2,616 have been wounded, including 380 who are in critical condition, according to the Israeli Health Ministry.

In a related development, the Israeli army revealed the names of 12 military personnel who were recently killed in the conflict with Palestinian gunmen, pushing the death toll of Israeli forces to 85, according to the Israeli daily Maariv.

In retaliation, the Israeli military launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 560 Palestinians and wounding at least 2,900 others. Israel has also said it will completely halt all supplies of electricity, food and fuel to Gaza, which is home to over 2 million people, about half of whom are children.

The Interior Ministry in Gaza said the Israeli military has "intensified its aggression" on Gaza with hundreds of raids. The Israeli army said it had struck over 500 targets in overnight raids on Gaza, which they claimed were targets belonging to the Hamas and Islamic Jihad.