Biden says Israel’s Gaza operations are self-defeating as aid ships leave port

The US has repeatedly warned Israel to reduce the destructive effect of its military operations that have killed about 31,000 Palestinians

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President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that further devastation in Gaza would harm Israel more than it would help its cause.

His remarks on Saturday came as the US joins a major international push to deliver thousands of tonnes of aid to Gaza by sea from Cyprus. The operation will involve the US constructing a pier by the shore of the heavily bombarded enclave.

Aid agencies have said costly efforts to deliver aid into Gaza would not be needed if Israel had sped up approvals of aid lorries on the borders of Gaza, rather than hindering flows of supplies for the enclave’s 2.3 million people.

Israel has resisted international pressure, including from the US, to do so.

The UN has warned about half of Gaza faces famine after months where aid deliveries were less than half the minimum daily average required.

Mr Netanyahu’s approach to the war was “hurting Israel more than helping Israel”, Mr Biden said during an interview with MSNBC.

The US has repeatedly warned Israel to rein in its war in Gaza which has killed about 31,000 Palestinians.

Current concerns revolve around an impending assault on Rafah in the south of Gaza, where about 1.5 million Gazans are sheltering. Thousands more deaths, and waves of displacement are feared if an incursion takes place in the city.

Critics of Mr Biden said the US has not used its substantial leverage, including billions in military aid for Israel.

Mr Netanyahu “has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas,” Mr Biden said, but added that “he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken”.

On Sunday, the US component of a maritime aid mission began with the General Frank S Besson support vessel departing a naval base in Virginia “less than 36 hours after President Biden announced the US would provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza by sea,” the US Central Command said.

The vessel is “carrying the first equipment to establish a temporary pier to deliver vital humanitarian supplies,” it said.

Meanwhile, a boat laden with aid was “ready” to set sail from Cyprus, an NGO said, as fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas militants continued ahead of Ramadan.

It would be the first shipment along a maritime corridor from Cyprus – the closest EU country to Gaza – that the EU Commission hopes will open on Sunday.

Open Arms spokeswoman Laura Lanuza told AFP that Israeli authorities were inspecting the cargo of “200 tonnes of basic foodstuffs, rice and flour, cans of tuna”.

US charity World Central Kitchen, which is working with Open Arms, has teams in the enclave who were “constructing a dock” to unload the shipment, Ms Lanuza said.

The UN’s World Food Programme has warned that the volume of aid that can be delivered by sea will do little if anything to stave off famine in Gaza.