President Biden and his aides are using an agreement for a brief halt to hostilities in Gaza to push the Israeli government to take broad measures aimed at lessening the harm to Palestinian civilians, including setting up safe areas, allowing in more medical aid and permitting larger deliveries of fuel, U.S. officials say.
American and Qatari officials are also pushing their Israeli counterparts to consider extending the planned four-day pause in fighting if Hamas pledges to free more hostages beyond the 50 now promised. The agreement, whose details were still under negotiation, has terms for extending the pause.
Israel continues to dismiss calls for a longer-term cease-fire accompanied by political negotiations, despite growing U.S. and international concern about the civilian deaths and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The American officials, who say they support Israel’s right to defend itself, expect Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet to continue the military campaign in Gaza that began after the Hamas terrorist attacks nearly seven weeks ago, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 240 others abducted.
Mr. Biden called Mr. Netanyahu on Wednesday to discuss the hostage release agreement, and also spoke with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the emir of Qatar, and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the president of Egypt, according to White House statements summarizing the calls. U.S. officials had been traveling among those three nations to help forge the hostage agreement.
Mr. Biden discussed with Mr. Netanyahu the pause, “which will allow for surging in much-needed humanitarian assistance into Gaza,” according to the White House summary. Mr. Biden also spoke about the need for “maintaining calm” along the Israel-Lebanon border, where Israel and Hezbollah have been striking at each other, and in the West Bank, where at least 190 Palestinians have been killed in violence since Oct. 7, either in encounters with the Israeli military or extremist…