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Key Points
- US President Biden says the shooting of Palestinians at an aid point in Gaza will complicate ceasefire talks.
- Biden says he is investigating conflicting narratives of the incident which reportedly killed 112 people.
- The incident adds to a Palestinian death toll surpassing 30,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
United States President Joe Biden said a ceasefire in war-torn Gaza was now unlikely to happen by Monday, adding that a shooting incident at an aid point would likely .
Biden said that the US was checking “competing versions” of the incident in which Israeli forces reportedly opened fire on Palestinians scrambling for food aid.
The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 112 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and more than 280 were wounded.
a deal was possible by Monday to implement a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in exchange for the release of some hostages held by Hamas.
“Hope springs eternal,” he told reporters when asked about the ceasefire timing, as he left the White House for a pre-election trip to Texas to visit the US-Mexico border.
“I was on the telephone with people in the region … Probably not by Monday, but I’m hopeful.”
Biden said he did not yet have clarity on what happened in Gaza City earlier on Thursday, when one of the worst single incidents of the nearly five-month war occurred.
“We’re checking that right now. There are two competing versions of what happened, I don’t have an answer yet,” he said as he headed to his helicopter.
Asked if he was worried whether it would complicate the delicate negotiations for a ceasefire, he replied: “I know it will.”
The White House later said Biden had spoken with two key regional players on Thursday — Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi — about efforts to reach a ceasefire.
The leaders also discussed the “tragic and alarming incident” in Gaza involving aid, saying it “underscored the urgency of bringing negotiations to a close as soon as possible”, the White House said.
The Israeli military claimed a “stampede” occurred when thousands of Gazans surrounded a convoy of 30 aid trucks, leading to dozens of deaths and injuries, including some who were run over by the vehicles.
An Israeli source acknowledged troops had opened fire on the crowd, believing it “posed a threat”.
The health ministry in Gaza condemned what it called a “massacre” and said at least 112 people were killed.
More than 30,000 people have been killed since Israel’s bombardment of Gaza began last October.
The US has backed Israel since Hamas’ October 7 attack where militants killed around 1,160 people and took about 250 hostages.
However, the US has recently pushed for a ceasefire and a reduction in civilian casualties by Israel.
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