Biden says he is committed to a ceasefire in Gaza

US President Joe Biden reaffirmed this Monday his commitment to negotiations to achieve a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of Israeli hostages, while stressing that Washington “is committed to the security of Israel” after the attack by Iran.

“We are committed to Israel’s security,” he said in statements to the media before beginning a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al Sudani.

“We are committed to a ceasefire that brings the hostages back and prevents these conflicts from spreading any further than they already have,” Biden added.

The United States has been acting as a mediator with Egypt and Qatar for months in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. to achieve a truce in the war in Gaza, a dialogue that is at an impasse after Hamas rejected the latest proposal on Saturday.

Before the cameras, Biden praised “the unprecedented military effort to defend Israel” that was undertaken by the US and its allies, which together with Israel managed to shoot down almost all of the drones, missiles and ballistic missiles that Iran launched against Israeli territory. , in Tehran’s first direct attack against Israel.

The meeting with Al Sudani had been scheduled before Iran’s attack on Israel and its objective was to focus on relations between the US and Iraq, with a focus on security and US troops in Iraq, but also on energy and economic issues. and investment.

Now, that meeting is being overshadowed by the attack that Iran launched on Israel, due in part to some drones and missiles flying over Iraqi airspace and others were launched from Iraq by Shiite groups backed by Iran.

Israel – with the help of the United States, the United Kingdom and neighboring Jordan – managed to intercept almost all of these missiles, most of them outside Israeli airspace, so that the Iranian offensive did not cause any deaths, but it did leave people seriously injured by shrapnel. a girl and minor damage was reported at an Air Force base in the south of the country.

Iran claimed that the wave of attacks, which It included more than 170 drones, 120 ballistic missiles and about 30 cruise missiles, it was a retaliation for the April 1 attack against its Iranian consulate in Damascusattributed to Israel and which caused the death of six Syrians and seven members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, including two generals.

Iran has ended its offensive, but warned that it will counterattack if Israel responds.