‘Far too many civilians have suffered’, says Biden as he calls for end to warThe White House has released a statement from the US president, Joe Biden, on the anniversary of the Hamas-led 7 October attacks on southern Israel.
Biden said:
On this day last year, the sun rose on what was supposed to be a joyous Jewish holiday. By sunset, October 7 had become the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Today marks one year of mourning for the more than 1,200 innocent people of all ages, including 46 Americans, massacred in southern Israel by the terrorist group Hamas. One year since Hamas committed horrific acts of sexual violence.
One year since more than 250 innocents were taken hostage, including 12 Americans. One year for the survivors carrying wounds, seen and unseen, who will never be the same. And one year of a devastating war. On this solemn anniversary, let us bear witness to the unspeakable brutality of the October 7th attacks but also to the beauty of the lives that were stolen that day…
I believe that history will also remember October 7th as a dark day for the Palestinian people because of the conflict that Hamas unleashed that day. Far too many civilians have suffered far too much during this year of conflict — and tens of thousands have been killed, a human toll made far worse by terrorists hiding and operating among innocent people.
We will not stop working to achieve a ceasefire deal in Gaza that brings the hostages home, allows for a surge in humanitarian aid to ease the suffering on the ground, assures Israel’s security, and ends this war. Israelis and Palestinians alike deserve to live in security, dignity, and peace.
Biden, in the last months of his presidency, has failed to exercise US leverage – as Israel’s biggest arms supplier and diplomatic shield at the UN – over Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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Lebanese MP Melhem Khalaf has accused Israel of “a crime against humanity” with its bombardment of the country.
Lebanon’s state-owned National News Agency quotes him saying:
Lebanon is the victim of the biggest war crime, a crime against humanity. Our people sleep on the ground in schools without a means to secure their most basic needs. Our children, our elderly, our families live in anxiety, terror, and fear for the future. The horizon is bleak before them. Without schools. Without work. Without housing.
More than 1.3 million people in Lebanon – over a fifth of the population – have been displaced from their homes after Israel stepped up its aerial attacks on what it claims are Hezbollah targets.
In Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, relatives and mourners have gathered for the funeral of 12-year-old Hatem Ghaith who was killed by Israeli security forces.
Mourners carry the body of 12-year-old Palestinian Hatem Ghaith who was killed by Israeli security forces. Photograph: Zain Jaafar/AFP/Getty ImagesIsrael’s military has claimed in the last few moments that it intercepted a surface-to-surface missile fired at central Israel from Yemen.
More details soon …
Andrew Sparrow
UK prime minister Keir Starmer has been speaking in parliament in London about the 7 October anniversary. My colleague Andrew Sparrow reports:
Keir Starmer says the 7 October attack was the bloodiest day for the people of Israel since the Holocaust. He says 15 Britons were “brutally slain” that day, and another has died since in captivity. For many people, the pain of that day is as acute as it was a year ago.
Last week he met the families of people killed and held hostage, he says. He says he will never forget what they said. The families of hostages are going through “agony” day after day. They must be returned, he says.
He says it is also “a day of grief for the wider region”. The human toll among innocent civilians in Gaza is “truly devastating”, he says. What is happening there is “a living nightmare” and it must end, he says.
He says last week the Iranian regime chose to strike Israel. All MPs will join him in condemnding this attack, he says. It was not a defensive action. It was a major escalation, in response to the death of a terrorist leader, he says.
He urges all sides to step back from the brink, and find the courage of restraint.
Working with other world leaders, he will focus on three areas, he says.
First, he is focusing on Lebanon. Some Britons have already been evacuated, and further evacuations are planned. He says he is continuting to call for an immediate ceasefire, and for a political solution. Hezbollah must withdraw, and stop firing rockets.
Second, they must renew efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza. And more relief must be provided for civilians. He says the ongoing restrictions on age are “impossible to justifiy”. Israel must open more crossings, and provide a safe haven for aid workers.
And, third, there must be solutions for the long term, he says. The two-state solution must be the ultimate goal. There is no other option offering security. So they must build a political route towards it, he says. The key to this is a ceasefire in Gaza now, he says.
It is worth noting that Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government includes people implacably opposed to a two-state solution, including finance minister Bezalel Smotrich who has described it as his “life’s mission” to thwart the creation of a Palestinian state.
Speaking in Israel on the anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attacks on southern Israel, France’s foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot has said “force alone” will not provide Israel with security.
Reuters quotes him saying:
Force alone cannot guarantee the security of Israel, your security. Military success cannot be a substitute for a political perspective. To bring the hostages home to their loved ones, to allow the displaced to return home in the north, after a year of war, the time for diplomacy has come.
Barrot said that France remained a staunch defender of Israel’s security, but that it was vital to be frank about the civilian suffering in Gaza and added “We have a responsibility to act today to avoid Lebanon finding itself in a short horizon in a dramatic situation like Syria found itself a few years ago.”
France’s foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot holds a press conference in Jerusalem on 7 October 2024. Photograph: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty ImagesReuters reports the Kremlin has said president Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke on the phone today about the crisis in the Middle East, and announced they would have a one-to-one on the sidelines of the Brics summit in Russia’s Kazan later this month.
Earlier Erdoğan criticised what he called Israel’s genocide in Gaza, saying “Just as Hitler was stopped by an alliance of humanity, [Israel’s prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his murder network will be stopped in the same way.”
Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the newswires from Lebanon:
People inspect the damage the day after an Israeli airstrike on a building in the Mount Lebanon village of Qmatiyeh, southeast of Beirut, on 7 October, 2024. Photograph: Ibrahim Amro/AFP/Getty ImagesA man checks his damaged house at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Baalbek, east Lebanon. Photograph: Hassan Ammar/APSmoke rises following an Israeli airstrike near the villages of Khiam and Kfar Kila, as seen from Marjaayoun, , in southern Lebanon. Photograph: EPAThe US state department said nearly 700 American citizens, green card holders and family members have now left Lebanon aboard US-contracted planes since late September.
The department said earlier today that about 90 passengers – less than a third of the planes 300-person capacity – departed Beirut for Istanbul, Turkey, on Sunday on the latest flight, according to the Associated Press.
Israel can’t confirm death of Hashem Safieddine, spokesperson saysIsrael does not have confirmation that the potential successor to the former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has died, a government spokesperson said.
Asked if Israel could confirm the death of Hashem Safieddine, who chairs Hezbollah’s executive council, spokesperson David Mencer told an online briefing:
We don’t have that confirmation yet. When it is confirmed, as and when, it will be on the IDF (Israeli military) website.
Nasrallah, who led Hezbollah for more than three decades, was killed by Israel in a series of strikes on the group’s underground headquarters in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, in late September.
Another similar strike reportedly killed Safieddine in the area, though this has not been confirmed. A cousin of Nasrallah, Safieddine was born in 1964 in southern Lebanon and is another founder member
Hashem Safieddine speaks during the funeral procession of a Hezbollah senior commander. Photograph: Bilal Hussein/APIn a separate statement released by the White House, the US vice president and Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, said she would “never forget the horror of October 7, 2023”.
In a statement, Harris said:
I will do everything in my power to ensure that the threat Hamas poses is eliminated, that it is never again able to govern Gaza, that it fails in its mission to annihilate Israel, and that the people of Gaza are free from the grip of Hamas. I will never stop fighting for the release of all the hostages, including the seven American citizens, living and deceased, still held: Omer, Edan, Sagui, Keith, Judy, Gad, and Itay. I will never stop fighting for justice for those who murdered Hersh Goldberg-Polin and other Americans. And I will always ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists like Hamas. My commitment to the security of Israel is unwavering…
Hamas’s terrorist attack on October 7 launched a war in Gaza. I am heartbroken over the scale of death and destruction in Gaza over the past year—tens of thousands of lives lost, children fleeing for safety over and over again, mothers and fathers struggling to obtain food, water, and medicine. It is far past time for a hostage and ceasefire deal to end the suffering of innocent people. And I will always fight for the Palestinian people to be able to realize their right to dignity, freedom, security, and self-determination. We also continue to believe that a diplomatic solution across the Israel-Lebanon border region is the only path to restore lasting calm and allow residents on both sides to return safely to their homes.
Harris does not appear to be deviating much from US President Joe Biden’s position of staunchly supporting Israel (economically, militarily and diplomatically), which during its war on Gaza has effectively been unconditional.
‘Far too many civilians have suffered’, says Biden as he calls for end to warThe White House has released a statement from the US president, Joe Biden, on the anniversary of the Hamas-led 7 October attacks on southern Israel.
Biden said:
On this day last year, the sun rose on what was supposed to be a joyous Jewish holiday. By sunset, October 7 had become the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Today marks one year of mourning for the more than 1,200 innocent people of all ages, including 46 Americans, massacred in southern Israel by the terrorist group Hamas. One year since Hamas committed horrific acts of sexual violence.
One year since more than 250 innocents were taken hostage, including 12 Americans. One year for the survivors carrying wounds, seen and unseen, who will never be the same. And one year of a devastating war. On this solemn anniversary, let us bear witness to the unspeakable brutality of the October 7th attacks but also to the beauty of the lives that were stolen that day…
I believe that history will also remember October 7th as a dark day for the Palestinian people because of the conflict that Hamas unleashed that day. Far too many civilians have suffered far too much during this year of conflict — and tens of thousands have been killed, a human toll made far worse by terrorists hiding and operating among innocent people.
We will not stop working to achieve a ceasefire deal in Gaza that brings the hostages home, allows for a surge in humanitarian aid to ease the suffering on the ground, assures Israel’s security, and ends this war. Israelis and Palestinians alike deserve to live in security, dignity, and peace.
Biden, in the last months of his presidency, has failed to exercise US leverage – as Israel’s biggest arms supplier and diplomatic shield at the UN – over Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.