Biden expresses frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, confirms 3-day pause request
He said he has asked for even a longer pause in some cases.
President Joe Biden confirmed on Thursday that he has pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a three-day pause in the Gaza fighting and expressed frustration with some of his Israeli counterpart's actions following the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.
"Did you ask to pause for three days to get the hostages out?" ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Selina Wang asked Biden as he left Joint Base Andrews for a trip to Illinois.
Biden responded, "Yes. I've -- I've asked for even a longer pause for some of them."
The president also expressed frustration about Netanyahu not completing some of the tasks he has asked him to do -- evincing reports of growing daylight between Netanyahu's and Biden's approach to the conflict.
"Taking a little longer than I had hoped," Biden said.
Despite the apparent disagreement, White House spokesperson John Kirby said Thursday that Israel will begin implementing daily four-hour pauses, a move he said was a "step in the right direction."
"Israel will begin to implement four-hour pauses in areas of northern Gaza each day, with an announcement to be made three hours beforehand. We've been told by the Israelis that there will be no military operations in these areas over the duration of the pause, and that this process is starting today," he said.
However, Richard Hecht, spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, said the implementation of four-hour pauses "is not a shift" and that the IDF is already "doing it de facto." Hecht characterized it as an expansion of what is already taking place.
When Biden was asked about the possibility of a cease-fire, he vehemently rejected the idea.
"None. No possibility," he said.
While leaving the White House, Biden said his message to the families of hostages held by Hamas is, "We're not going to stop until we get them out."
Regarding the retaliatory strikes on the Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), ABC News asked whether the strikes were working.
"Yes. I mean, they are working in the sense that we're hitting our target," Biden answered.
Ten days after the Hamas terror attack on Israel, Iran-backed militants began what has become a spate of near-daily aggression. Since Oct. 17, American troops have been attacked at least 41 times in the region, according to U.S. officials.