Biden tells Israel’s Netanyahu future US support for war depends on new steps to protect civilians

By AAMER MADHANI and ZEKE MILLER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has told Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that future U.S. support for Gaza war depends on new steps to protect civilians and aid workers. Biden and Netanyahu spoke Thursday by phone days after Israeli airstrikes killed seven food aid workers in Gaza and added a new layer of complication in the leaders’ increasingly strained relationship. The White House says Biden told Netanyahu an “immediate ceasefire is essential.” The leaders’ conversation comes as the World Central Kitchen called for an independent investigation into the Israeli strikes that killed the group’s staff members, including an American citizen. The Kitchen was founded by restauranteur José Andrés to provide immediate food relief to disaster-stricken areas.