Biden: There is ‘urgent need’ for aid to Gaza, deal for truce and hostage release

US President Joe Biden says there is “an urgent need to increase the scope of humanitarian aid to Gaza” and secure an agreement that will halt the fighting and release the hostages taken from Israel on October 7.

Biden spoke before a St. Patrick’s Day brunch at the White House’s East Room on Sunday, in the presence of Ireland’s prime minister, Leo Varadkar, and his partner, Matthew Barrett, as well as Catholic leaders. The room was decked out for the holiday, with an Irish flag, shamrocks and green and gold tablecloths. Guest seating cards were written in Celtic-looking green lettering.

Biden, a devout Catholic who is exceedingly proud of his Irish heritage, said he was grateful to Varadkar for spending time with him on the holiday, and he thanked the Catholic leaders for their humanitarian work.

He says an agreement to pause the war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s October 7 massacre, would “lead us towards a two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “This is the only path to peace and security,” says Biden.

Ireland has been among the most critical in Europe of Israel’s conduct in war against Hamas in Gaza, which was launched after Hamas terrorists rampaged through southern communities on October 7, slaughtering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

Palestinian terrorists also abducted 253 people, of which around 130 are still inside Gaza, although Israel says about 30 of them are presumed dead.