Biden calls for cease-fire 'now' to get aid into Gaza in Univision interview
President Joe Biden called for an immediate cease-fire to get food and aid into Gaza in an interview airing Tuesday night on Univision.
"So I what I'm calling for is for the Israelis to just call for a cease-fire, allow for the next six, eight weeks total access to all food and medicine going into the country," Biden said in the interview with Univision's Enrique Acevedo. "I've spoken with everyone from the Saudis to the Jordanians to the Egyptians. They're prepared to move in. 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."
Biden did not mention tying the cease-fire to a hostage deal, according to a transcript of the interview, which would be a shift for the administration. ABC News has reached out to the White House for comment.
Last week, officials pushed back on suggestions that they were separating calls for a cease-fire from hostage negotiations in their readout of Biden's call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"Our conviction remains that we need to see an immediate cease-fire to enable the release of hostages but also to enable a dramatic surge in humanitarian assistance, as well as obviously better protecting civilians," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on April 4.
In the Univision interview, Biden also called Netanyahu's approach in Gaza "a mistake" when asked if he believed the prime minister was "more concerned about his political survival than he is in the national interest of his people" as calls for Netanyahu's resignation have increased following the strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen workers.
"Well, I will tell you, I think what he's doing is a mistake. I don't agree with his approach. 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, etc.," Biden said in the interview.
The hour-long interview, which is airing at 10 p.m. ET, was taped a day before Biden's call with Netanyahu on April 4.
-ABC News' Molly Nagle