[Salon] Israel-Hamas War Day 126 | Israeli Army Strikes Rafah, Central Gaza Overnight; Hamas Reports Over 100 Killed in Past Day

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-02-09/ty-article-live/biden-says-israeli-military-conduct-in-gaza-is-over-the-top-pushing-for-pause/0000018d-8be5-d5e7-ad8d-ebe5fc430000

Israeli Army Strikes Rafah, Central Gaza Overnight; Hamas Reports Over 100 Killed in Past Day

Feb 9, 2024

Gaza's Hamas-controlled health ministry: 107 Palestinians killed in past 24 hours

A total of 27,947 Palestinians have been killed and 67,459 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Friday.

According to the statement, some 107 Palestinians were killed and 142 injured in the past 24 hours Haaretz 5:29 AM

The Biden administration has issued a national security memorandum requiring foreign governments to guarantee they will not violate human rights with weapons purchased from the U.S.

The memo, modeled off a previous proposed amendment from Sen. Chris Van Hollen, required that all recipient countries provide the U.S. with credible assurances that they would comply with international law and not restrict any humanitarian efforts in areas where U.S. weapons are being used.

The memo also includes a strictly limited national security waiver that is to be used only under "extraordinary circumstances." The administration must send a notification to Congress within seven days if the waiver is used.

"As we've seen, despite repeated pleas from the Biden Administration, actions from the Netanyahu government are still causing extremely high civilian casualties and preventing over 2 million innocent Palestinians in Gaza from getting enough desperately needed humanitarian aid," Van Hollen said.

"This new policy will help hold all recipients of U.S. weapons – including the Netanyahu government – more accountable. It's a huge step forward in shining a light on the use of U.S. taxpayer dollars, and will have a lasting impact for years to come," he added.

The memo marks a number of firsts — including the mandated credible and written assurances from countries prior to weapons transfers, as well as assurances that they won't deny or restrict aid efforts in conflict areas where U.S.-purchased weapons are being used.

It further requires the State Department and the Defense Department to send a report to Congress within 90 days of the use of U.S. weapons in armed conflict areas since January 2023.

The memo further creates an enforcement mechanism for holding accountable countries that violate u.S., international or humanitarian law — or used in manners inconsistent with mitigating civilian harm.

It does not apply to air defense systems or any strictly defensive or non-lethal defense articles.

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday that conduct in Gaza has been "over the top," adding that he is working to get a sustained pause in fighting in place.

Speaking at a press conference to address a Special Counsel report that opted not to pursue charges against the president for retaining classified document but which raised questions about his mental acuity – something the White House disputes – Biden confused the Mexico with Egypt when talking about the situation in Gaza.

"I think that, as you know, initially the president of Mexico – Sissi – did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian aid to go in," he said. "I talked to him. I convinced him to open the gate. I talked to Bibi to open the gate on the Israeli side. I've been pushing him really hard, really hard, to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza."

"There are a lot of innocent people who are starving, in trouble and dying," the president added. "It's got to stop."

Biden went on to say that he has been in constant contact with the leaders of Qatar, Egypt and Saudi Arabia "to get as much aid as we possibly can into Gaza."

He also said that his administration is "pushing very hard to deal with this hostage cease-fire. I've been working tirelessly on this deal to lead to a sustained pause in the fighting in the actions taking place in the Gaza Strip."

Residents return to parts of Gaza City after the Israeli army withdrew, on Thursday.Credit: Mahmoud Shalha / Anadolu via AFP

Speaking about the currently stalled normalization process between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Biden said that "right before Hamas attacked, I was in contact with the Saudis and others, where they would recognize Israel's right to exist, make them part of the Middle East and recognize them fully – in return for certain things the us would commit to do."

Asked what those things were, Biden replied: "It related to two items; I won't go into detail, but one of them is to deal with protection against their archenemy to the northeast. The second one [is] by providing ammunition and materials to defend themselves. Coincidentally, that's the timeframe where this broke out. I have no proof for what im about to say, but it's not unreasonable to suspect that Hamas understood what was about to take place and wanted to break it up before it happened."

The White House did not respond to a request to elaborate on Biden's remarks.