US President Joe Biden has called for a “pause” in fighting between Israel and Hamas to allow Americans to escape the Gaza Strip.
During a campaign speech on Wednesday, Biden was interrupted by a woman rabbi, who told him: “As a rabbi, I need you to call for a ceasefire right now.”
The rabbi, Jessica Rosenberg, was met with boos and hisses by others in the room. One woman even screamed at her to “get out!”
However when the noise died down, the president gave Rosenberg an unprecedented answer. For the first time since Hamas’s terrorist attack on 7 October, he called for a “pause” in fighting.
“I think we need a pause. A pause means give time to get the prisoners out,” he told her.
The call comes as Israel’s military forces say they are at the “gates of Gaza City”.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) began its ground invasion late last month and is now preparing for a major offensive into the populated areas of Gaza.
The IDF has already instructed any Gazan residents in the northern section of the city to flee south or risk being seen as “terrorist accomplices”.
Over 9,000 people in Gaza — including almost 4,000 children — have been killed since Hamas militants massacred 1,400 people in Israel on 7 October and kidnapped an estimated 240 hostages.
The United Nations said on Wednesday that “Palestinian people are at grave risk of genocide”.
Compiled by staff writer
Pictured above: Scenes in Gaza.
Image source: X
