Biden defends Israel and say there hasn't been a 'significant overreaction' as IDF bombards Gaza and troops mass on border

 President Joe Biden commented again on the exchanges of rockets and missiles between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza – saying Thursday he has not seen a 'significant escalation' by the key U.S. ally. 

Biden made the comment at the White House when asked about the violence – which has included repeated rocket attacks from Gaza toward civilian areas in Israel, and Israeli military airstrikes targeting militants that have also taken the lives of civilians, including children.

'One of the things that I have seen thus far is that there has not been a significant overreaction,' Biden said. 

'One of the things that I have seen thus far is that there has not been a significant overreaction,' President Biden said when asked whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was doing enough to stop violence from escalating amid clashes with Gaza

'One of the things that I have seen thus far is that there has not been a significant overreaction,' President Biden said when asked whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was doing enough to stop violence from escalating amid clashes with Gaza

Soon after, the Israeli military announced that air and ground forces were attacking the Hamas-run enclave.


Reports that a full-scale invasion was under way were quickly replaced by briefings that ground forces were involved in an artillery barrage. 

At the White House, Biden was asked whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he spoke to Wednesday, was doing enough to stop violence from escalating.

Biden referenced his 'brief conversation' with Netanyahu Wednesday. 'And I have my intelligence community, the Defense Department, as well as the State Department. I've been in contact with all of their counterparts not only in Israel but in the region.'

'And one of the things that I have seen thus far is that there has not been a significant overreaction,' he said. 'The question is how we get to a point – they get to a point –where there is a significant reduction in the attacks, particularly the rocket attacks that are indiscriminately  fired into population centers,' he said, calling out the militant attacks from Palestinian-controlled Gaza. 

'We haven't just spoken with the Israelis,' Biden made a point of saying. He also said talks have included the Egyptians and the Saudis 'and others.'

Biden also backed up Israel in comments Wednesday. 'My expectation and hope is that this will be closing down sooner than later,' he said. 'Israel has a right to defend itself when you have thousands of rockets flying into your territory.' 

Although Biden has found support in comments by senior Democratic lawmakers, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday retweeted another lawmaker, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), who accused the U.S. of 'funding' the violence. Israel and Egypt are consistently the top recipients of U.S. military aid.

'We cannot just condemn rockets fired by Hamas and ignore Israel's state-sanctioned police violence against Palestinians — including unlawful evictions, violent attacks on protestors & the murder of Palestinian children,' Pocan (D-Wis.) wrote. 'U.S. aid should not be funding this violence.' 

His comments come as Israeli has been pounding targets in Gaza, and preparing for what could be a ground invasion. 

Israel called up 9,000 reservists to bolster its forces today as it deployed troops to the Gaza border in preparation for a possible ground invasion.

Biden also backed up Israel in comments Wednesday. He said his team has been in contact with the Egyptians and the Saudis

Biden also backed up Israel in comments Wednesday. He said his team has been in contact with the Egyptians and the Saudis

Relentless air strikes continued to decimate Hamas strongholds in the Strip this afternoon as their brigades held funerals for slain commanders, including the terror boss of Gaza City and their intelligence chief. 

Netanyahu is facing the prospect of a war on two fronts as internal rioting by Jewish and Arab mobs descended into 'lynchings' last night in the worst civil unrest for decades.

Hamas requested a ceasefire on a 'mutual basis' late on Wednesday after firing more than 1,600 rockets into densely populated Israeli neighborhoods, killing seven civilians including a five-year-old boy.

Netanyahu rejected the peace offering despite growing international alarm at the rising civilian death toll following more than 600 air strikes on Hamas targets - 83 Palestinians have been killed, including 17 children. 

Troops were today ordered to the Gaza border in 'various stages of preparing ground operations', a military spokesman said, a move that would recall similar incursions during Israel-Gaza wars in 2014 and 2008-2009. 

The IDF said that an infantry assault is just 'one scenario' which is being considered as it deployed several units to the border, including the Paratroopers Brigade, Golani Infantry Brigade and 7th Armoured Brigade.  

'The campaign is still far from over,' a minister said after a cabinet meeting last night with Netanyahu. 'Whatever we don't do now, we will have to do in six months or a year from now.'

He told Israeli news site Ynet: 'When we have hit all our targets and the other side has still not surrendered, we will launch a ground operation even though we do not seek it.'  

Plans for the ground invasion were being drafted for approval by Israeli Defence Force Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi later on Thursday, according to the Jerusalem Post. If they get the General's sign off, the plans will be passed on to Netanyahu and his cabinet. 

'This will not end in the next few days,' the cabinet minister added. 'Israel will not stop and has no interest in stopping. It is all moving in the right direction. We will act until they admit that opening fire was a mistake, just as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah did after the Second Lebanon War in 2006.' 

Israeli soldiers fire an American-designed 155mm self-propelled howitzer towards the Gaza Strip from their position near the southern Israeli city of Sderot on Wednesday. It comes amid a build up of troops at the border in preparation for a possible ground invasion of the Strip

Israeli soldiers fire an American-designed 155mm self-propelled howitzer towards the Gaza Strip from their position near the southern Israeli city of Sderot on Wednesday. It comes amid a build up of troops at the border in preparation for a possible ground invasion of the Strip

A ball of fire engulfs a tower block in Gaza City early on Thursday morning as Israel presses forward with its campaign against Hamas. 'The campaign is still far from over,' a cabinet minister said after last night's meeting with Netanyahu. 'Whatever we don't do now, we will have to do in six months or a year from now.'

A ball of fire engulfs a tower block in Gaza City early on Thursday morning as Israel presses forward with its campaign against Hamas. 'The campaign is still far from over,' a cabinet minister said after last night's meeting with Netanyahu. 'Whatever we don't do now, we will have to do in six months or a year from now.'

A missile is seen heading for a tower block in Gaza on Wednesday
An explosion rises into the sky in the early hours of this morning in Gaza

A missile is seen heading for a tower block in Gaza on Wednesday, left; and an explosion rises into the sky in the early hours of this morning, right

A colossal explosion erupts as an Israeli bomb blows apart a Hamas target in Gaza City on Thursday. The pattern of the smoke and debris flying through the air suggests use of a bunker buster bomb, used to destroy the vast underground networks used by the Islamist militants

A colossal explosion erupts as an Israeli bomb blows apart a Hamas target in Gaza City on Thursday. The pattern of the smoke and debris flying through the air suggests use of a bunker buster bomb, used to destroy the vast underground networks used by the Islamist militants 

An Israeli AH-64 Apache attack helicopter releases flares near Sderot, in southern Israel on the border with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip

An Israeli AH-64 Apache attack helicopter releases flares near Sderot, in southern Israel on the border with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip

A Palestinian protester hurls a Molotov cocktail at Israeli police forces in the West Bank city of Hebron on Wednesday night as internal violence threatens to plunge Israel into a war on two fronts

A Palestinian protester hurls a Molotov cocktail at Israeli police forces in the West Bank city of Hebron on Wednesday night as internal violence threatens to plunge Israel into a war on two fronts

Fireworks explode on the streets of Hebron in the West Bank as Palestinians riot against Israeli forces in solidarity with their brethren in the Gaza Strip

Fireworks explode on the streets of Hebron in the West Bank as Palestinians riot against Israeli forces in solidarity with their brethren in the Gaza Strip

A sequence of images shows the moment an Israeli missile speeds towards a Hamas target in Gaza City on Thursday
A sequence of images shows the moment an Israeli missile speeds towards a Hamas target in Gaza City on Thursday

A sequence of images shows the moment an Israeli missile speeds towards a Hamas target in Gaza City on Thursday

Debris and shrapnel flies through the air as the bomb explodes on a suspected Hamas compound in Gaza City on Thursday
Debris and shrapnel flies through the air as the bomb explodes on a suspected Hamas compound in Gaza City on Thursday

Debris and shrapnel flies through the air as the bomb explodes on a suspected Hamas compound in Gaza City on Thursday

Palestinians gather to pray around the bodies of 13 Hamas militants, killed in Israeli air strikes, during their funeral in at the al-Omari mosque in Gaza City, on Thursday

Palestinians gather to pray around the bodies of 13 Hamas militants, killed in Israeli air strikes, during their funeral in at the al-Omari mosque in Gaza City, on Thursday

Israeli mourners attend the funeral of Israeli soldier Omer Tabib, 21, in Elyakim in northern Israel, on Thursday. Tabib was killed by an anti-tank missile near the border yesterday

Israeli mourners attend the funeral of Israeli soldier Omer Tabib, 21, in Elyakim in northern Israel, on Thursday. Tabib was killed by an anti-tank missile near the border yesterday

Smoke from an Israeli air strike climbs into the skies over Gaza City on Thursday as bombardments hit Hamas targets

Smoke from an Israeli air strike climbs into the skies over Gaza City on Thursday as bombardments hit Hamas targets

Smoke rises into the air as rockets hit area of Gaza City
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Hamas militants fire more rockets from Gaza towards Israel
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Israeli security force members patrol during a night-time curfew following violence in the Arab-Jewish town of Lod on Wednesday night following riots in the city

Israeli security force members patrol during a night-time curfew following violence in the Arab-Jewish town of Lod on Wednesday night following riots in the city 

Israeli Arabs gather next to a mosque during clashes between Jews, Israeli police and Arabs, in the mixed town of Lod, central Israel on Wednesday

Israeli Arabs gather next to a mosque during clashes between Jews, Israeli police and Arabs, in the mixed town of Lod, central Israel on Wednesday

Israeli troops take cover from their bombing position as an M109 howitzer shells the Gaza Strip on Thursday

Israeli troops take cover from their bombing position as an M109 howitzer shells the Gaza Strip on Thursday

A column of thick black smoke rises from a compound in Gaza City on Thursday as the Israeli bombing campaign continues undeterred by Hamas peace efforts

A column of thick black smoke rises from a compound in Gaza City on Thursday as the Israeli bombing campaign continues undeterred by Hamas peace efforts 

An Israeli tank crewman picks up a shell to load into the M109 howitzer during barrages on the Gaza Strip on Thursday

An Israeli tank crewman picks up a shell to load into the M109 howitzer during barrages on the Gaza Strip on Thursday

An Israeli JDAM missile plummets towards a compound in Gaza as the bombardments continue on suspected Hamas targets. JDAM (or Joint Direct Attack Munition) is a guidance kit that converts unguided ('dumb') bombs into precision-guided munitions equipped with GPS and inertial guidance technology

An Israeli JDAM missile plummets towards a compound in Gaza as the bombardments continue on suspected Hamas targets. JDAM (or Joint Direct Attack Munition) is a guidance kit that converts unguided ('dumb') bombs into precision-guided munitions equipped with GPS and inertial guidance technology


As Joe Biden and Boris Johnson made appeals for calm yesterday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a forceful partisan condemnation - saying that Israel needed to be taught a 'lesson.' 

He told Russia's Vladimir Putin during a phone call of the need for 'the international community to give Israel a strong and deterrent lesson' as he called on the UN to intervene with a 'determined and clear message.' 

The appeals fell on deaf ears this morning as Israel and Hamas exchanged cross-border blows throughout the early hours of Thursday - sending Israelis fleeing into air raid shelters, while Palestinians evacuated their apartments.    

Among the high-ranking commanders 'neutralised' in strikes on Wednesday were Brigadier General Bassem Issa, chief of the Gaza City Brigades, and Jamal Zabda, head of the group's rocket unit and responsible for the improved accuracy of their projectiles.  

The IDF says it has launched strikes on 650 targets, including militants, infrastructure, missile-launch sites, central banks and administrative buildings key to maintaining power in the Strip. 

Brigadier General Hidai Zilberman told reporters early Thursday: 'Tonight we started destroying government targets in the Gaza Strip, such as central banks and internal security buildings. Hamas is beginning to discover cracks and there is pressure in the organization, even among the Gaza public who is losing its patience and sees these ruins on the eve of the holiday (Eid).'   

Three tower blocks have been levelled in assaults by the Israel Air Force and the Islamists' network of underground tunnels has been decimated by bunker buster bombs.

As well as high-ranking commanders, the IDF say they have killed another 60 Hamas militants.

Funerals for 14 slain Hamas members, including the terror chief Issa, were held at the Omari Grand Mosque in Gaza City on Thursday.

Hundreds of men were seen walking through the streets with the bodies draped in the green flags of Hamas as sobbing women and children watched from windows and balconies.

At the same time, in the Israeli settlement of Eliakim, hundreds of family members and comrades attended the funeral of 21-year-old soldier Omer Tabib.

Tabib was killed close to the border with Gaza on Wednesday by an anti-tank missile fired at his jeep.

'Omer, my beautiful child, six years we waited for you and the patience paid off – we received a beautiful child with an eternal smile on his face,' his mother Tali said, according to Haaretz.

'I refuse to believe that instead of a blessing for your [finishing the army], I'm searching for words to summarize the period of your life. I'm sorry, but I don't know how to do it. In my blackest dreams I never thought I'd reach this point. Omer, my beautiful child, give us the strength to know how to continue on.'  

The fighting has sparked violent clashes between Arabs and Jews in Israel, in ugly scenes which have not been witnessed for more than 20 years amid fears of a civil war. 

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