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Benjamin Netanyahu to Joe Biden: Israel will try to safeguard Gaza civilians
Israel-Hamas War: "This will be a different kind of war because Hamas is a different kind of enemy," Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told visiting US president Joe Biden that Tel Aviv would try to avoid civilian casualties in its Gaza war, which he described as challenging due to the tactics of Palestinian Hamas.
"This will be a different kind of war because Hamas is a different kind of enemy," Benjamin Netanyahu said, adding, “As we proceed in this war, Israel will do everything it can to keep civilians out of harm's way.”
Read more: Vladimir Putin says strike on Gaza hospital ‘terrible’, calls for negotiations
Joe Biden visited Israel on an urgent mission to keep the Israel-Hamas war from spiraling into a broader regional conflict and to encourage the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. The visit comes after hundreds of people were reported killed in an explosion at a Gaza Strip hospital which Hamas blamed on an Israeli airstrike.
Joe Biden said that the United States would work with Israel to prevent civilian deaths.
"We will continue to have your back. As you work to defend your people, we will continue to work with you and partners across the region to prevent more tragedy to innocent civilians," Joe Biden said after meeting Netanyahu's war cabinet in Tel Aviv.
Joe Biden also told Israeli leaders, “Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you" but that there were “a lot of people out there” who weren’t sure.
The war that began October 7 has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,778 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded. Another 1,200 people across Gaza are believed to be buried under the rubble following the hospital blast. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, and at least 199 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza.
