Praising Israel - Hamas Ceasefire, President Joe Biden Pledges Aid

United States President Joe Biden. (Wikimedia Commons/David Linenemann)

JAKARTA - President Joe Biden praised a ceasefire agreed by Israel and Hamas reached Thursday, May 20, local time, after 11 days of fierce fighting that killed hundreds of people and wounded thousands more.

In a speech at the White House, shortly after the announcement of the ceasefire, President Biden called what happened over the past 11 days tragic, because of the large number of civilian casualties, especially children and women.

"We remain committed to working with the United Nations (UN) and other international stakeholders to provide rapid humanitarian assistance and to gather international support for the people in Gaza and in Gaza reconstruction efforts," President Joe Biden told Reuters on Friday.

Biden said reconstruction aid for Gaza would be provided in partnership with the Palestinian Authority and not Hamas, which the United States calls a terrorist organization.

President Biden also used his remarks to defend his approach to dealing with the crisis, after many Democratic lawmakers urged him to adjust his stance in defending Israel's right to self-defense.

President Biden said he had six phone calls with Netanyahu and had also spoken with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, as well as a number of his top aides making dozens of contacts with other officials in the Gulf.

"I believe the Palestinians and Israelis alike deserve to live safely and securely and enjoy equal freedom, prosperity, and democracy," President Biden said.

"My government will continue our calm and relentless diplomacy towards that goal. I believe we have a genuine opportunity to make progress and I am committed to working for it," he continued.

Meanwhile, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, in his Twitter post on Friday morning, thanked President Joe Biden for his role in making Egypt's ceasefire initiative in Gaza a success.

Sisi said he and President Biden both see the urgency of handling conflicts between all parties that have diplomacy. Egypt's efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians came into force on Friday morning.

Separately, British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said he welcomed news of the ceasefire in Israel and Gaza, after Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire proposed by Egypt.

"All parties must work to make the ceasefire durable and end the cycle of unacceptable violence and the loss of civilian lives," Raab wrote on Twitter.