Biden stresses 'path to peace' in Israel-Gaza crisis
By Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday the Israel-Gaza crisis should have «a path to peace» including independent states for the Israelis and Palestinians and integrating Israel among its Arab neighbors.
Biden opened a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese by saying U.S. support for Israel's defense is ironclad, but the parties need to think about the way forward in the region once the Gaza crisis is resolved.
«Israelis and Palestinians equally deserve to live side by side in safety, dignity and in peace,» said Biden.
Biden said he believed one reason Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,400 people on Oct. 7, was to prevent normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Israeli airstrikes in retaliation have killed over 6,500 people, the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said on Wednesday. Reuters has not been able to independently verify the casualty figures of either side.
Biden said he had «no notion» that the Palestinians were telling the truth about how many had been killed. «I'm sure innocents have been killed, and it's the price of waging a war.»
«I have no confidence in the number» that the Palestinians are using, he said.
Once the crisis is over, «there has to be a vision of what comes next» in the region, Biden said, a future that should include a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians.
«I continue to be alarmed about extremist settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank,» Biden said, accusing them of pouring gasoline on a fire. «They're attacking Palestinians in places that they're entitled to be,» he said.
AUSTRALIA OFFERS AID
Albanese, in his opening remarks, said Australia will provide an
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