Biden, "We Must Postpone Ground War Until More Hostages Are Rescued"

Speech at Fundraising Event... Attention on US and EU Pressuring Israel in Reports

U.S. President Joe Biden on the 20th (local time) responded "yes" when asked whether Israel's ground troop deployment in the Gaza Strip targeting the Palestinian armed group Hamas should be delayed.

According to major foreign media, President Biden gave this answer during a campaign fundraising event when asked if he wanted to postpone the ground offensive until more hostages were freed.

Earlier, Hamas released two American women held hostage for humanitarian reasons. Hamas, which attacked Israel on the 7th of this month causing over 1,500 deaths, has kidnapped around 200 civilians, soldiers, and foreigners as hostages while continuing armed clashes with the Israeli military.

However, it appears that Hamas has not released all the American hostages. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a briefing that "there are 10 more Americans unaccounted for in this war," adding, "some of them are held by Hamas along with an estimated 200 hostages."

Meanwhile, the United States and the European Union (EU) are reportedly pressuring Israel to delay its invasion of the Gaza Strip to buy time for negotiations with Hamas for the release of hostages. Bloomberg News, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported signs that Hamas is willing to release some hostages, and although Israel initially opposed delaying the military operation, it agreed to postpone it under U.S. pressure.

President Biden expressed the view that Hamas's attack was intended to disrupt the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. He said, "One reason Hamas crossed into Israel was because they knew I was about to sit down with the Saudis." He added, "You know, Saudi Arabia wanted to recognize Israel as a state," emphasizing that the situation was close to being formalized soon, according to the Associated Press.

President Biden has been pushing for the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, and there had been growing expectations that such an agreement would be reached within the year, even up until just before Hamas's surprise attack. Saudi Arabia reportedly demanded significant concessions to the Palestinians from Israel as a condition for normalization, but discussions were halted due to the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas.

This war broke out while Israel, under U.S. mediation, was seeking to normalize diplomatic relations with Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia, the Sunni Islamic powerhouse. Hamas, founded in 1987, has refused to recognize Israel's existence and has been committed to uncompromising armed struggle.

Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on CNN on the 8th, "It would not be surprising if part of the motive behind the attack was to disrupt efforts to reconcile Saudi Arabia and Israel." However, President Biden emphasized in a CBS interview on the 15th that the prospects for normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel "just need time and are not over."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.