U.S. President Joe Biden discussed the “active and ongoing U.S. efforts to support Israel’s defense against all threats from Iran, including its proxy terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis,” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, per a White House readout of the Wednesday call.
That support includes “ongoing defensive U.S. military deployments,” the White House said.
It added that Biden “stressed the urgency of bringing the ceasefire and hostage release deal to closure and discussed upcoming talks in Cairo to remove any remaining obstacles.”
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, was also on the call, per a pool report.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office had not yet read out the call in English at press time.
“All the international pressure appears to be on Israel and I don’t see any public pressure on Hamas aside from Israel’s military campaign,” wrote Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran, about an earlier report of the call. “Hamas keeps refusing proposals and is betting Biden will go back to Netanyahu and ask him to be more flexible.”
