Biden had also spoken to Netanyahu earlier this week, but Abbas had not been in touch since the US president’s inauguration in January this year. Abbas is the president of the Palestinian Authority in charge of the West Bank. Gaza, from which missiles are fired at Israel, is controlled by Hamas.
Abbas urged Biden to intervene in the conflict and end Israeli attacks on the Palestinians. According to Palestinian news agency Wafa, Biden has said the United States is “trying to work with the parties involved to reduce violence.”
Wafa reports that Biden has also said he is against the expulsion of Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem. This deportation was the reason for the flare-up of violence. He is also said to have expressed support for a two-state solution.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has assured Biden that the Israeli military is doing everything it can to avoid innocent victims in the attacks. The US president said Israel has the right to defend itself against rocket attacks by Hamas and other terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu thanked Biden for that support.
Since the conflict began, 158 Palestinians have died in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Palestinian sources report. On the Israeli side, ten people were killed.
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