By — Nick Schifrin Nick Schifrin By — Zeba Warsi Zeba Warsi Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/biden-warns-israel-to-protect-civilians-aid-workers-in-gaza-or-risk-losing-u-s-support Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Audio President Biden is warning Israel that U.S. support for the war in Gaza depends on new efforts to protect civilians and aid workers. Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in a phone call Thursday following Monday's airstrike that killed seven humanitarian workers in Gaza. The White House said the president told Netanyahu an immediate ceasefire is essential. Nick Schifrin reports. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. Geoff Bennett: Today, for the first time, President Biden publicly threatened to condition support for Israel. His remark came in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The president said his future policy was dependent on whether Israel took multiple steps to ease the civilian suffering in Gaza. He also reiterated his call for an immediate cease-fire.Following all of this is our Nick Schifrin.Nick,it's great to have you here.And, look, as you well know, White House readouts of presidential phone calls with foreign leaders aren't always that illuminating, but we actually learned a lot today from the official White House summary of the call between President Biden and Netanyahu. Tell us what you have learned. Nick Schifrin: The White House readout, but also U.S. officials who I have been talking to tell me that the president was — quote — "very direct" with the prime minister.And the president said that following that killing of the World Central Kitchen aid workers — you see the car that they were traveling in — following the three cars that they were traveling in were hit by Israeli munitions, Biden said Israel had to, one, better protect aid workers, two, better protect civilians, and, three, reduce humanitarian suffering.And this is a quote from that White House readout — quote — "President Biden made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel's immediate action on those three steps."President Biden has not made that threat, at least publicly available, until now. And until now, he said that, if he had a red line, that red line would be a full-scale military operation by Israel into Rafah. That's what you see right there, where 1.4 million Gazans have fled.And a few minutes after President Biden's call with Netanyahu, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was on that call listening both to the president and the prime minister, was even more blunt.Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State: If we don't see the changes that we need to see, there will be changes in our own policy. Nick Schifrin: Blinken also said something that he has not said before, that Israel's priority in Gaza is not, or at this moment, should be fighting Hamas or even protecting Israeli territory. Those are the phrases that the U.S. has used in the past.But, instead, Israel's priority in Gaza is this: Antony Blinken: Right now, there is no higher priority in Gaza than protecting civilians, surging humanitarian assistance, and ensuring the security of those who provide it. Israel must meet this moment. Nick Schifrin: Israel has not responded to these statements publicly yet, but it has argued that the limiting of humanitarian aid is not its fault, but the fault of a lack of U.N. capacity in terms of distribution of aid inside of Gaza.It called the killing of those aid workers inadvertent, the product of a misidentification, and it's promised exactly what President Biden is calling for, Geoff, an independent, open investigation. Geoff Bennett: And the president also called for a cease-fire. The explicit nature of that demand is noteworthy. Nick Schifrin: It is, because, up until now, the president has largely said there should be a cease-fire as part of a hostage deal.And, again, a U.S. official tells me he was "very direct" — quote unquote — with the prime minister on this. There is a hostage deal on the table, as you and I have discussed; 35 to 40 hostages would be released from Hamas custody in exchange for a six-week cease-fire.But Hamas has insisted that part of that deal must be to allow all of those Gazans in Rafah to return north into Northern Gaza. Israel has resisted that Hamas demand because, in Northern Gaza, there are both hostages, Israel believes, but also Hamas militants. And Israel has said that it's too hard to either save those hostages or kill all those Hamas militants if all those civilians were to flood back into Northern Gaza.But, today, a U.S. official told me that President Biden told Netanyahu — quote — "Get the hostage deal done, no more posturing," even, Geoff, if that means allowing Gazan civilians to move north from Rafah. And the president also urged Netanyahu to find a compromise on another sticking point, the exact number of Palestinian detainees, including those convicted of murder, who would be released from Israeli detention in exchange for those 35 to 45 — 40 hostages.How far Israel is willing to go on that compromise, and, frankly, how far or whether even Hamas is willing to make a compromise, a lot of U.S. officials are skeptical of that, remains to be seen. Geoff Bennett: Such valuable reporting.Nick Schifrin, thanks, as always. Nick Schifrin: Thank you. Geoff Bennett: Today, for the first time, President Biden publicly threatened to condition support for Israel. His remark came in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The president said his future policy was dependent on whether Israel took multiple steps to ease the civilian suffering in Gaza. He also reiterated his call for an immediate cease-fire.Following all of this is our Nick Schifrin.Nick,it's great to have you here.And, look, as you well know, White House readouts of presidential phone calls with foreign leaders aren't always that illuminating, but we actually learned a lot today from the official White House summary of the call between President Biden and Netanyahu. Tell us what you have learned. Nick Schifrin: The White House readout, but also U.S. officials who I have been talking to tell me that the president was — quote — "very direct" with the prime minister.And the president said that following that killing of the World Central Kitchen aid workers — you see the car that they were traveling in — following the three cars that they were traveling in were hit by Israeli munitions, Biden said Israel had to, one, better protect aid workers, two, better protect civilians, and, three, reduce humanitarian suffering.And this is a quote from that White House readout — quote — "President Biden made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel's immediate action on those three steps."President Biden has not made that threat, at least publicly available, until now. And until now, he said that, if he had a red line, that red line would be a full-scale military operation by Israel into Rafah. That's what you see right there, where 1.4 million Gazans have fled.And a few minutes after President Biden's call with Netanyahu, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was on that call listening both to the president and the prime minister, was even more blunt.Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State: If we don't see the changes that we need to see, there will be changes in our own policy. Nick Schifrin: Blinken also said something that he has not said before, that Israel's priority in Gaza is not, or at this moment, should be fighting Hamas or even protecting Israeli territory. Those are the phrases that the U.S. has used in the past.But, instead, Israel's priority in Gaza is this: Antony Blinken: Right now, there is no higher priority in Gaza than protecting civilians, surging humanitarian assistance, and ensuring the security of those who provide it. Israel must meet this moment. Nick Schifrin: Israel has not responded to these statements publicly yet, but it has argued that the limiting of humanitarian aid is not its fault, but the fault of a lack of U.N. capacity in terms of distribution of aid inside of Gaza.It called the killing of those aid workers inadvertent, the product of a misidentification, and it's promised exactly what President Biden is calling for, Geoff, an independent, open investigation. Geoff Bennett: And the president also called for a cease-fire. The explicit nature of that demand is noteworthy. Nick Schifrin: It is, because, up until now, the president has largely said there should be a cease-fire as part of a hostage deal.And, again, a U.S. official tells me he was "very direct" — quote unquote — with the prime minister on this. There is a hostage deal on the table, as you and I have discussed; 35 to 40 hostages would be released from Hamas custody in exchange for a six-week cease-fire.But Hamas has insisted that part of that deal must be to allow all of those Gazans in Rafah to return north into Northern Gaza. Israel has resisted that Hamas demand because, in Northern Gaza, there are both hostages, Israel believes, but also Hamas militants. And Israel has said that it's too hard to either save those hostages or kill all those Hamas militants if all those civilians were to flood back into Northern Gaza.But, today, a U.S. official told me that President Biden told Netanyahu — quote — "Get the hostage deal done, no more posturing," even, Geoff, if that means allowing Gazan civilians to move north from Rafah. And the president also urged Netanyahu to find a compromise on another sticking point, the exact number of Palestinian detainees, including those convicted of murder, who would be released from Israeli detention in exchange for those 35 to 45 — 40 hostages.How far Israel is willing to go on that compromise, and, frankly, how far or whether even Hamas is willing to make a compromise, a lot of U.S. officials are skeptical of that, remains to be seen. Geoff Bennett: Such valuable reporting.Nick Schifrin, thanks, as always. Nick Schifrin: Thank you. Listen to this Segment Watch Watch the Full Episode PBS NewsHour from Apr 04, 2024 By — Nick Schifrin Nick Schifrin Nick Schifrin is PBS NewsHour’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Correspondent. He leads NewsHour’s daily foreign coverage, including multiple trips to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion, and has created weeklong series for the NewsHour from nearly a dozen countries. The PBS NewsHour series “Inside Putin’s Russia” won a 2017 Peabody Award and the National Press Club’s Edwin M. Hood Award for Diplomatic Correspondence. In 2020 Schifrin received the American Academy of Diplomacy’s Arthur Ross Media Award for Distinguished Reporting and Analysis of Foreign Affairs. He was a member of the NewsHour teams awarded a 2021 Peabody for coverage of COVID-19, and a 2023 duPont Columbia Award for coverage of Afghanistan and Ukraine. Prior to PBS NewsHour, Schifrin was Al Jazeera America's Middle East correspondent. He led the channel’s coverage of the 2014 war in Gaza; reported on the Syrian war from Syria's Turkish, Lebanese and Jordanian borders; and covered the annexation of Crimea. He won an Overseas Press Club award for his Gaza coverage and a National Headliners Award for his Ukraine coverage. From 2008-2012, Schifrin served as the ABC News correspondent in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2011 he was one of the first journalists to arrive in Abbottabad, Pakistan, after Osama bin Laden’s death and delivered one of the year’s biggest exclusives: the first video from inside bin Laden’s compound. His reporting helped ABC News win an Edward R. Murrow award for its bin Laden coverage. Schifrin is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a board member of the Overseas Press Club Foundation. He has a Bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a Master of International Public Policy degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). @nickschifrin By — Zeba Warsi Zeba Warsi Zeba Warsi is a foreign affairs producer, based in Washington DC. She's a Columbia Journalism School graduate with an M.A. in Political journalism. She was one of the leading members of the NewsHour team that won the 2024 Peabody award for News for our coverage of the war in Gaza and Israel. @Zebaism