Calls for Gaza cease-fire interrupt speech by US President Biden

WASHINGTON

A speech by President Joe Biden at a church on Monday was interrupted by calls for a cease-fire in the besieged Gaza Strip.

"If you really care about the lives lost here, then you should honor the lives lost and call for a cease-fire in Palestine," one protestor shouted while Biden was giving remarks at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in the US South.

Several shouted "cease-fire now" before being escorted from the church hall. After they exited, shouts of "four more years" came from the remaining audience, in apparent solidarity with Biden.

"I understand their passion, and I've been quietly working with the Israeli government to get them to reduce and significantly get out of Gaza," said Biden.

White House insiders have said Biden, while largely supporting Israel’s government in public, has urged it behind the scenes to curb its devastating attacks, but with little result so far.

Israel has launched air and ground attacks on the enclave since Oct. 7, killing at least 23,084 Palestinians and injuring 58,926 others, according to Gaza’s health authorities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed, and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.