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What EU foreign policy chief said on Joe Biden's visit to Israel: ‘Necessary’
Israel-Hamas War: Joe Biden is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday amid frantic diplomatic efforts.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Tuesday that US President Joe Biden's planned visit to Israel after the Hamas attacks was "absolutely necessary".
Biden is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday amid frantic diplomatic efforts to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza after waves of Israeli retaliatory air strikes on the Hamas-ruled enclave.
Israel has also lined up forces on the Gazan border ahead of an expected ground incursion.
"President Biden's visit...is absolutely necessary," Borrell told a news conference in Rota in southern Spain where EU member states are holding joint military exercises.
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"We have called on Israel to conduct its defence activities in accordance with international law, for humanitarian corridors to be opened to bring aid to Gaza and for civilians to be protected. I am sure that this will also be the message that the president of the United States will convey," he added.
While signalling support for Israel with his visit, Biden is also expected to try to quietly steer its military response, as criticism grows about the devastating impact of the war on Palestinian civilians.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that Biden hopes to “hear from Israel how it will conduct its operations in a way that minimises civilian casualties and enables humanitarian assistance to flow to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not benefit Hamas.”
