US president says Hamas has said it will not stop attacking Israel and said Israeli forces had switched from aerial bombardment to more targeted operations
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Joe Biden has presented an unapologetic defence of his refusal to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, arguing that Hamas presented a continuing threat to Israel and that Israeli forces were seeking to avoid civilian casualties.
After a summit meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Apec summit in San Francisco, Biden told reporters on Wednesday night: “Hamas has already said publicly that they plan on attacking Israel again like they did before, cutting babies’ heads off, burning women and children alive. So the idea that they’re going to just stop and not do anything is not realistic.”