US President Joe Biden addressed the current war between Israel and Hamas and said that the status quo before the war could not continue.
"The anger, the hurt, and the outrage that the Israeli people are feeling after the brutally inflicted devastation by Hamas is completely understandable. Israel has the right, and I would add, responsibility to respond to the slaughter of her people, and we will ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against these terrorists. That's a guarantee," Biden stated at the beginning of a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
The President continued: "We also have to remember that Hamas does not represent the vast majority of the Palestinian people. Hamas is hiding behind Palestinian civilians, and it's despicable and not surprisingly cowardly as well. This also puts an added burden on Israel while they go after Hamas. But that does not lessen the need to operate in line with the laws of war. Israel has to do everything in its power, as difficult as it is protect innocent civilians."
Biden also thanked the Israelis and Egyptians for helping the US to make sure that humanitarian aid reaches Gaza and called for the aid to increase.
Later in his statements, the President declared: "Israelis and Palestinians equally deserve to live side by side, in safety, dignity, and peace. There's no going back to the status quo as it stood on October 6th. That means ensuring Hamas can no longer terrorize Israel and Palestinian civilians as human shields. It also means that when this crisis is over, there has to be a vision of what comes next, and in our view, it has to be a two-state solution. It means a concentrated effort from all the parties, Israelis, Palestinians, regional partners, global leaders, to put us on a path toward peace."
He added: "For the past few weeks, I spoke to leaders throughout the region, including King Abdullah of Jordan, President Sisi of Egypt, President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, and just yesterday, with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia about making sure there is real hope in the region for a better future, about the need to work for a better integration of Israel, while insisting that the aspirations of the Palestinians will be part of that future as well."
Biden said that he felt that Hamas attacked when it did because it felt that Israel was progressing in integrating into the Middle East.
Biden ended by turning his criticism to the actions of Israeli citizens. "I continue to be alarmed about extremist settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank. That's like pouring gasoline on fire. This was a deal, the deal was made, and they are attacking Palestinians in places that they are entitled to be. It has to stop, they have to be held accountable, and it has to stop now."