Biden meets Israel’s Herzog as US Gaza aid deadline expires

President Joe Biden met Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the White House on Tuesday, as a 30-day deadline set by the US for Israel to get more aid into Gaza expired. Iran and its proxies in the region were a major focus of their discussions, with Mr Herzog describing Iran as “the empire of evil”.
“It all starts in the empire of evil, where in Tehran, with its proxies, they are doing whatever they can to derail stability and security and peace, calling for the annihilation of the state of Israel and seeking nuclear weapons,” Mr Herzog, whose role is largely ceremonial, said. “Mr President, this has to be a major objective all throughout your term and the next term of the next president, because we have to make sure that they cannot fulfil their evil intentions.”
He also called for the release of the more than 100 hostages still held in Gaza. Mr Herzog noted that two Israelis had been killed in the city of Nahariya, in northern Israel, by rockets fired from Lebanon, and that a teacher for children with special needs had rescued toddlers from a drone attack.
“This is what we’re going through from Lebanon, Mr President, and you know it all too well,” he said. “We’re fighting hard, we’re protecting our people … and I know that you’re working very hard to make sure that this war will end and that there will be, first and foremost, security for the people of Israel, as well as for the people in Lebanon.”
Mr Biden reiterated Washington’s “iron-clad” commitment to Israel and the two nations’ deep friendship. As Mr Herzog’s motorcade arrived at the White House, a small group of protesters gathered there waved a large Palestinian flag and shouted “war criminal”.
The visit comes as international aid organisations said Israel has failed to meet US requirements for more humanitarian aid being allowed into the Gaza Strip. Experts have said conditions in the enclave are worse than at any point in the war and that the north may already be experiencing famine.
Tuesday was the deadline the Biden administration had set for Israel to increase aid flows into the strip. US officials have so far not said whether they will take any action.
Mr Biden met Mr Herzog in October 2023 in Tel Aviv shortly after the Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people and triggered the war, which has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians and reduced much of the Gaza Strip to rubble. With only a couple of months left in his term, and as president-elect Donald Trump prepares to take over at the White House, Mr Biden is hoping to make progress on ceasefire talks for Gaza and Lebanon he leaves office.