Biden Positive on 'Delaying Ground War'... White House Says "Question Misunderstood" to Clarify

Brief Answers to Reporters' Questions... Attention Due to US-EU Pressure on Israel
White House Explains as 'Simple Mistake'... Unclear Whether Farce or Unofficial Position

U.S. President Joe Biden answered "yes" when asked whether Israel should delay its ground invasion of the Palestinian Gaza Strip. Amid reports that the United States and the European Union (EU) are pressuring Israel to postpone the ground offensive to protect hostages, the White House clarified that President Biden's remark was a simple mistake due to mishearing the question.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

According to major foreign media, on the 20th (local time), before boarding his private plane, President Biden responded "yes" to a reporter's question asking, "Do you want the ground offensive to be delayed until more hostages are freed?"

This statement came amid concerns that a ground invasion of the blockaded Gaza Strip would be extremely dangerous, considering the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the approximately 2,000 hostages held by Hamas. In particular, U.S. media reported that the United States and the EU are pressuring Israel to delay the Gaza invasion to buy time for negotiations with Hamas for the release of hostages.

Bloomberg News cited sources familiar with the matter, reporting that Hamas has shown signs of agreeing to release some hostages, and although Israel initially opposed delaying the military operation, it agreed to postpone it under U.S. pressure.

However, the White House quickly moved to clarify that there was a misunderstanding regarding President Biden's remarks. White House spokesperson Ben LaBolt explained that President Biden's "yes" was not related to Israel's plan for a ground offensive targeting Palestinian armed groups in Gaza.

LaBolt said, "The president was far away. He did not hear the entire question. The question sounded like 'Do you want to see more hostages released?' He did not comment on anything else."

The White House's explanation essentially stated that President Biden did not properly hear the part about delaying the Gaza ground offensive and that his "yes" was an agreement with the hope that more hostages would be freed, leading to a miscommunication of his position.

President Biden has previously made significant remarks that required quick clarifications from the White House or the State Department, such as comments implying U.S. military intervention in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Some experts interpret such confusion not as simple mistakes but as acts of "strategic ambiguity" intended to control the actions of others.

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

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 whose whereabouts are unknown in this war," adding, "Some of them are held by Hamas along with an estimated total of 200 hostages."

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