Gaza Ceasefire ‘Probably Not by Monday’, Biden Acknowledges

March 1, 2024 Hour: 1:04 pm

Amid growing domestic discontent over his handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, U.S. President Joe Biden is pressing for a ceasefire in Gaza in the run-up to November’s presidential elections.

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As over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel began its offensive in October 2023, Biden said he hoped to see a ceasefire by next Monday.

“Well I hope by the beginning of the weekend… We are close, it’s not done yet. And my hope is that by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire,” he said earlier this week.

“The status quo isn’t working,” Christopher Galdieri, a political science professor at Saint Anselm College, said while commenting on Biden’s words.

‘Gaza is going to be a major issue in this election…every election event that Biden goes to, he encounters protesters that call him Genocide Joe’

–@SMArikat, Washington Bureau Chief of Al-Quds Newspaper, who has challenged the US’ complicity in the genocide in Gaza regularly… pic.twitter.com/5NgK2wm29V

— Going Underground (@GUnderground_TV)
March 1, 2024

Recent weeks have seen an increase in pressure on Biden to call for a ceasefire after the president was criticized when the U.S. vetoed another United Nations resolution that called on Israel to halt the fighting.

On Sunday, to protest Israel’s military operation in Gaza, an active-duty airman of the U.S. Air Force set himself at the Israeli Embassy in Washington.

“The uptick in criticism from Progressives and Democrats overall for his response to the war is a real danger to the president,” The Hill reported, adding that Biden’s “pro-Israel stance could result in him losing votes in 2024 in critical states like Michigan.”

“Our Revolution,” a political group founded by Bernie Sanders, encouraged Michigan voters to vote “uncommitted” in Tuesday’s Democratic primary instead of voting directly for Biden.

Israeli troops killed 100 Palestinians waiting for aid trucks in Gaza on Thursday. As Israel’s war crimes continue to pile up, the Biden administration continues to stand idly by. https://t.co/8Wa9AZPeU9

— Jacobin (@jacobin)
March 1, 2024

In fact, over 101,000 Michigan voters cast their votes as “uncommitted” to protest Biden’s handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, accounting for more than 13 percent of the Michigan Democratic primary vote.

The state of Michigan is home to many Arab-Americans, who have expressed a sense of betrayal by what they believe is Biden’s pro-Israel stance in the war in Gaza.

Greg Cusack, a former member of the Iowa House of Representatives, thinks that “nothing will placate Biden’s domestic critics short of ending the destruction of Gaza, and I see no indication that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is willing to help at all.”

Recent polls have revealed that voters generally disapprove of Biden’s management of the Gaza war. Younger citizens are notably more critical than older voters, expressing dissatisfaction with both Israel’s actions and Biden’s handling of the conflict.

The U.S. government has been facing increasing protests across the country calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and some groups are even seeking legal challenges to force the White House to withdraw support for Israel.

#FromTheSouth News Bits | Palestine: The United Nations reported that virtually the entire population of Gaza is suffering from hunger to varying degrees and it was reported in the last few hours that six children died from dehydration and malnutrition in the Palestinian enclave. pic.twitter.com/mvqLxPTz0t

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish)
February 29, 2024