At the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announces that President Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday.
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00:00 Good morning.
00:05 On Wednesday, President Biden visited Israel.
00:08 He's coming here at a critical moment for Israel, for the region, and for the world.
00:16 And he's coming here to do the following.
00:18 First, the President will reaffirm the United States' solidarity with Israel and our
00:23 ironclad commitment to its security.
00:27 President Biden will again make clear, as he's done unequivocally since Hamas' slaughter
00:31 of more than 1,400 people, including at least 30 Americans, that Israel has the right and
00:38 indeed the duty to defend its people from Hamas and other terrorists and to prevent
00:42 future attacks.
00:45 President will hear from Israel what it needs to defend its people as we continue to work
00:49 with Congress to meet those needs.
00:52 Second, President Biden will underscore our crystal-clear message to any actor, state
00:58 or non-state, trying to take advantage of this crisis to attack Israel.
01:03 Don't.
01:04 To that end, he's deployed two aircraft carrier groups and other military assets to
01:09 the region.
01:10 Third, the President will continue to coordinate closely with our Israeli partners to secure
01:16 the release of hostages taken by Hamas, including men, women, small children, Holocaust survivors,
01:26 and American citizens, as an indispensable humanitarian effort.
01:31 Fourth, President Biden will receive a comprehensive brief on Israel's war aims and strategy.
01:37 Fifth, the President will hear from Israel how it will conduct its operations in a way
01:42 that minimizes civilian casualties and enables humanitarian assistance to flow to civilians
01:47 in Gaza in a way that does not benefit Hamas.
01:51 To that end, today and at our request, the United States and Israel have agreed to develop
01:56 a plan that will enable humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organizations
02:02 to reach civilians in Gaza and them alone, including the possibility of creating areas
02:07 to help keep civilians out of harm's way.
02:10 It is critical that aid begin flowing into Gaza as soon as possible.
02:15 We share Israel's concern that Hamas may seize or destroy aid entering Gaza or otherwise
02:20 preventing it from reaching the people who need it.
02:23 If Hamas in any way blocks humanitarian assistance from reaching civilians, including by seizing
02:28 the aid itself, we'll be the first to condemn it and we will work to prevent it from happening
02:33 again.
02:35 We welcome the Government of Israel's commitment to work on this plan.
02:37 The President very much looks forward to discussing it further when he's here on Wednesday.
02:42 Thanks very much.
02:43 [BLANK_AUDIO]