Israel: Joe Biden tells Iran to 'be careful'

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US President Joe Biden spoke to Jewish community leaders at the White House on Wednesday, where he gave his latest remarks on the crisis in Israel and Gaza.

He said that the mobilization of aircraft and ships closer to Israel was a warning to Iran to "be careful."

Iran is a major financial and military backer of Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas is deemed a terrorist organization by the US, the EU, Germany and several other countries.     

During his remarks, Biden decried the Hamas terror attack on Israeli civilians as "the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust." Israel said 1,200 have died since the attacks on Saturday.  

"This attack was a campaign of pure cruelty, not just hate, but pure cruelty, against the Jewish people," Biden said. 

At the same time, Biden said it is "important" that Israel operates "by the rules of war" in its ongoing military campaign against Hamas in Gaza. 

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu gave a televised address late Wednesday and formally announced his unity government alongside opposition politician Benny Gantz.

Netanyahu is a member of the conservative Likud Party, while Gantz is apart of the centrist Blue and White alliance.  

"We have established a national emergency government," Netanyahu said. "The people of Israel are united. We have put aside our differences."      

"Every member of Hamas is a dead man," Netanyahu declared. He said Israeli soldiers were beheaded and women were "raped and slaughtered" during the terror attacks by Hamas on Saturday. 

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who is part of a newly unveiled war cabinet with Netanyahu and Gantz, was also present during the address.   

"Our standing here together shoulder to shoulder is a message to our enemies," Gantz said. "There's a time for peace and a time for war. Now is a time for war."     

Gershon Baskin, an Israeli peace activist, told DW that people got it wrong on Qatar mediating the release of Israeli and Palestinian hostages.

"Qatar's proposed the release of women and children from Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinian women prisoners in Israel and minors in Israeli prisons," Baskin said.

"There are no negotiations. Hamas is not willing to negotiate until all attacks against Gaza have ended, and Israel is not willing to negotiate anything with Hamas," Baskin said.

Baskin operated a negotiating channel with Hamas for the release of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was held captive by Hamas from 2006 until 2011.  

"Remember that Gilad Shalit was in captivity for five years and four months, and it took that time to negotiate an agreement." 

"Negotiations are completely off the table. The Qataris, the Egyptians, the Turks are all trying to work back-channels with Hamas to open up humanitarian corridors to get food and water and medical supplies to civilians and to the hostages," Baskin told DW. "But there there is nothing called negotiations on the table." 

The peace activist believes "there won't be negotiation on the table for the foreseeable future, which is weeks, months, maybe even longer than that." 

But the weekend's unprecedented attacks mean that there is a lot of pressure on the Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu to topple Hamas. "We're heading toward total destruction of Gaza and the elimination of anyone in Gaza who's affiliated with Hamas," Baskin says. 

"It's starting with the bombardment from the air, and it will resume with a ground strike which will be aimed at also finding hostages and releasing them in military operations, with the knowledge that many of the hostages may be killed in the crossfire." 

Baskin warned: "There's also a threat by Hamas of taking the hostages one by one and executing them on camera."

"Not only will Hamas militants and Hamas political leaders be killed, but there'll be a lot of civilian casualties and there will be a lot of casualties amongst the Israeli army," he said. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government is in hostage release negotiations with Hamas, AFP and Reuters news agencies reported, citing a Turkish official.  

Hamas, which rules over the Gaza Strip, is deemed a terrorist organization by the US, EU and several other countries. US President Joe Biden has estimated about 150 hostages are being held in Gaza following Saturday's terror attacks on Israel. 

Erdogan has often expressed sympathy with Palestinians, and Turkey does not consider Hamas to be a terrorist group. 

At the same time, Turkey does not necessarily have a negative relationship with Israel. Turkey and Israel normalized ties in 2022, with the two countries having a robust trade relationship. 

Ravi Agrawal, editor of Foreign Policy magazine, told DW that Israel is in a difficult situation with the possibility of mediated negotiations with Hamas.

"Israel has some very tough decisions to make and it's very difficult for it to game out who to trust, what to give up, whether to allow Hamas the victory of negotiations, even if that means getting their people back and balancing all of that with the immense internal domestic anger at what's happened," Agrawal said.

One nation in the region that is trusted by both sides is Qatar, which has offered to mediate and has done so in the past. 

"This is important because there is no trust between Hamas and Israel right now. So you need outside players," Agrawal said.

Germany has also called on Qatar to help negotiate a ceasefire. Agrawal said Qatar "sees itself as a rising Gulf power."  

Talks of negotiations just days into fighting — compared to months or even years during previous bouts of violence — demonstrate the unique position Hamas is now in.

"It is significant and I think that's because to have this many hostages — upwards of 150, Hamas says, also some American hostages — this is unprecedented in scale," Agrawal said.

"I've spoken to some people who have been involved in negotiations in the past and I think the word we're hearing across the board is that this situation is unprecedented," he added.  

UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA is urging $104 million (€98 million) in humanitarian assistance for the Gaza Strip.

Following the Hamas terror attacks on Saturday, Israel has launched a series of air strikes on Gaza and closed off the enclave from electricity, food and water. 

"What is unfolding is already an unprecedented humanitarian tragedy. Whatever the circumstances are, rules apply in times of conflict and this one is no exception. Aid to civilians who have nowhere to flee must be immediate: water, food, medicine, " UNWRA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said.  

"It is of utmost urgency that access to humanitarian assistance and protection must be upheld for all civilians," Lazzarini continued. He noted that UNRWA has financial problems and called on donors and partners to ramp up monetary support.  

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken departed the US for Israel on Wednesday.

Describing the situation following the Hamas terror attacks as "heartbreaking," Blinken told reporters at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland prior to his departure that the US "had Israel's back — today, tomorrow and every day." 

Blinken is expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli President Isaac Herzog and other top officials during the trip.    

So far, 22 US citizens have been confirmed dead since Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday. Blinken said this death toll figure "could still go up." 

Following his visit to Israel, Blinken will then go to Jordan, a key Arab ally for the US in the Middle East region. Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in 1994.  

Blinken is not expected to visit the West Bank during his Middle East trip. Previous trips by Blinken have included a stop in the West Bank and talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.   

The US is in active discussions with Israel and Egypt on the safe passage of civilians out of the Gaza Strip, a White House official said Wednesday.

"We're actively discussing this with our Israeli and Egyptian counterparts. We support safe passage for civilians," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said during a media briefing.

Kirby said that 17 US citizens are unaccounted for since Hamas' terror attacks this weekend.

US President Joe Biden earlier said that 150 people have been taken hostage by Hamas in Gaza, with US-Americans among them.  

An Israeli official told US broadcaster CNN Wednesday that under a safe passage proposal, US citizens would be able to leave Gaza via the Egyptian Rafah crossing, only needing to show their American passports to exit the enclave.

Rafah is the only crossing out of Gaza not controlled by Israel, with the rest of the enclave bordered by the sea or by Israel, which has announced a total siege and is considering a ground invasion.

It is therefore the only way for people to leave Gaza. Israeli strikes have hit the crossing several times since Saturday, forcing it to temporarily close.

The movement of other Palestinian civilians out of Gaza would be restricted to 2,000 people a day, CNN reported.

The Israeli army said Wednesday that reports of an "aerial infiltration" from Lebanon were sparked by an "error." 

"There are no launches at this point from Lebanon. There are no alerts," Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said.

"This has been an error that we are looking into. ... We will check whether it's a technical malfunction or a human error," Hagari added.

The earlier reports sparked fears that the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza could spill over into Lebanon. 

Lebanon and Israel do not have diplomatic ties. Parts of Lebanon are controlled by Hezbollah, an Iran-backed political party and paramilitary group.

Hezbollah — the party and its paramilitary wing — has been designated a terrorist organization by the US, Germany, Israel and others, while France and the EU only consider the paramilitary wing a terrorist group. 

Michael McCaul, the Republican Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in the US Congress, told journalists that Egypt alerted Israel three days prior to the Hamas terror attack, the French AFP news agency reported, along with Israeli newspaper Haaretz. 

"We know that Egypt has warned the Israelis three days prior that an event like this could happen," McCaul told journalists.    

Israeli outlet Ynet reported earlier this week that Egypt's Director of the General Intelligence Directorate Abbas Kamel told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 10 days before the Hamas terror attacks carried out on October 7 that "something unusual, a terrible operation" would take place. 

Netanyahu has derided the story as "fake news."

Egypt has served as a frequent mediator between Hamas and Israel and has previously brokered cease-fires during conflicts in Gaza.

The US State Department said on Wednesday that the number of US citizens killed in Israel since Hamas carried out its terror attack over the weekend has risen to 22. 

"We extend our deepest condolences to the victims and to the families of all those affected," a State Department spokesperson said.

A day earlier, the US citizen death toll had stood at 14.

President Joe Biden had said on Tuesday that US citizens are among the estimated 150 people held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 

He also said in a White House address that he had "no higher priority" than the safety of US hostages.

Hamas is deemed a terrorist organization by the US, Germany and the EU, among others.        

Three Palestinians were fatally shot by Israelis on Wednesday in the West Bank, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry. The confrontation in Qusra, near the northern West Bank metropolis of Nablus, involved Israeli settlers and soldiers.

A probe into the deaths is underway. It's unclear if the Palestinians were associated with any militant group. 

At least 27 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since Saturday when Hamas carried out a terror attack on Israel.

Israel responded by carrying out airstrikes on Gaza and with other security measures.

More than 1,000 people have been killed on both sides.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock reiterated Germany's support for Israel on Wednesday after the Bundestag observed a minute of silence for the Israeli victims of Hamas attacks in recent days.

"I don't think anyone in this room can even entirely understand the grief and the suffering of the many, many people affected."

Baerbock added Israel has the right to defend itself against terrorism within the framework of international law, and offered Germany's support "in every area."

"Israel's security is part of Germany's reason of state," she said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his concern that the ongoing conflict could spread beyond Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

The UN chief said in an address that he is "concerned" about reported attacks from southern Lebanon. 

The Israeli military earlier on Wednesday reported a suspected aerial "infiltration" from Lebanon. 

In addition, Guterres called "for the release of all Israeli hostages held in Gaza." 

"Civilians must be protected at all times," Guterres added. "International humanitarian law must be respected and upheld."

He said 220,000 Palestinians are being sheltered across dozens of UN facilities in Gaza. He stressed that UN facilities such as schools and clinics must never be targeted while noting that some UN workers have already "paid the ultimate price" over the last few days.  

He urged "rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access" into Gaza.

Guterres also thanked Egypt for "its constructive engagement to facilitate humanitarian access through the Rafah crossing, and to make the el-Arish airport available for critical assistance."

"There is no time to lose. Every moment counts," Guterres concluded.

Isaeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with US President Joe Biden on Wednesday, the prime minister's office said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

"The Prime Minister thanked the President for his powerful words of support, following their previous conversation yesterday, and for his unequivocal support for the State of Israel," it read.

The phone call between the leaders is the fourth since Saturday, and Biden reiterated his support for Israel once again.

"We stand with Israel. And we will make sure Israel has what it needs to take care of its citizens, defend itself, and respond to this attack," Biden said.

"There is no justification for terrorism," he added.