US calls for unilateral ceasefire, but promises support if Iran attacks Israel

US President Joe Biden has called on Israel to unilaterally agree to a six-to-eight week ceasefire, in an apparent retreat from his administration’s stance that conditioned a truce in Gaza on Hamas releasing some of the hostages it’s holding in the Strip.

“What I’m calling for is for the Israelis to just call for a ceasefire, allow for the next six, eight weeks, total access to all food and medicine going into the country,” Biden told Univision, a US Spanish-language TV network.

“I’ve spoken with everyone from the Saudis to the Jordanians to the Egyptians. They’re prepared to move in,” Biden says. “They’re prepared to move this food in. And I think there’s no excuse to not provide for the medical and the food needs of those people. It should be done now.”

Asked whether Netanyahu is more concerned about political survival than Israelis’ national interest, Biden responds, “I think what he’s doing is a mistake… I don’t agree with his approach,.”

The Univision interview was taped just days after an Israeli air strike killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers and Biden also spoke strongly against Israel's conduct.

“I think it’s outrageous that those four, three vehicles were hit by drones and taken out on a highway where it wasn’t like it was along the shore, it wasn’t like there was a convoy moving there,” Biden said.

But when it comes to the increasing threat of an attack from Iran, Biden said that the US commitment to defend Israel against Iran was “ironclad”.