Biden says he will keep pushing Gaza cease-fire efforts

President Joe Biden told fellow global leaders at a Group of 20 summit Monday that his soon-to-end administration would keep pushing to bring an equitable end to Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

Seated between leaders of France and India at a long oval table at the summit site in Rio de Janeiro, Biden cited U.S. efforts on hunger and poverty in his soon-to-end four years in office, saying he had put $160 billion into global development.

With fewer than three months left in his term, Biden also said his administration would keep pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on its conduct of the war and the need to end it. “Israel has a right to defend itself after the worse massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. But how it defends itself … matters a great deal.”

“We’re going to keep pushing to accelerate a cease-fire deal that ensures Israel’s security and brings hostages home and ends the suffering of the Palestinian people and children,” he said.

Biden also said Hamas was still refusing a deal, adding, “I am asking everyone to increase the pressure on Hamas.”

United Nations aid organizations said a convoy carrying food supplies in Gaza was attacked over the weekend. UNRWA, the main U.N. agency responsible for distributing aid in Gaza, said gunmen stole aid from 97 of the convoy’s 109 trucks on Saturday. The Israeli military has said that attacking and stealing aid is an ongoing problem, especially in southern Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue services said one woman was killed and 10 wounded in a Hezbollah rocket attack that hit northern Israel.

According to paramedics who arrived at the scene, one woman was killed instantly and 10 others were injured after a rocket struck a four-story building. The Israeli military said the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah had launched more than 100 projectiles toward Israel on Monday.

Israeli airstrikes targeted a neighborhood in the heart of Lebanon’s capital late Monday evening, slamming into an area near the Parliament, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.

Also, suspected attacks by Yemen’s Houthi terorrists targeted a Panama-flagged bulk carrier traveling through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, though no damage or injuries were reported, authorities said Monday.