U.S. President Joe Biden warned the Israeli government against a further intensification of bloodshed in the Gaza Strip as worries grow over the humanitarian disaster in enclave.
"[We] cannot have another 30,000 more Palestinians dead," Biden said in an interview with MSNBC on Saturday. Asked whether an invasion of Rafah, in the south of Gaza on the border with Egypt, was a red line, Biden replied in the affirmative: "It is a red line."
The remarks come as a ship loaded with supplies prepares to leave Cyprus on Sunday to provide aid to Palestinians in Gaza. It would be the first vessel in what the European Union has indicated would be a humanitarian sea corridor.
The number of Palestinians who have been killed in the Israeli invasion of Gaza in response to the October 7 attack by Hamas is disputed, but reports from the ground show that, in addition to civilians killed by bombings and the ground assault, there are growing numbers of people dying of starvation. On Wednesday, the United Nations warned of an “imminent” famine in the region, which is inhabited by 2.3 million people.
The aid ship belongs to the Spanish charity Open Arms, and will bring will bring food supplies in cooperation with EU authorities. It is leaving from the Cypriot port of Larnaca.
The U.S. has previously airdropped supplies into the besieged territory. The Biden administration said that it now wants to built a floating pier to help deliver large amounts of aid into Gaza. The Pentagon indicated that this could take up to 60 days.
Even as Biden warned Israel's government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, against further targeting of the civilian population in Gaza, he reiterated his support for the state. "I'm never going to leave Israel," said the U.S. president. "The defense of Israel is still critical."