US President Joe Biden said Wednesday that Israel has the right to respond to the Hamas attack but must do "everything in its power" to protect civilians.
Biden also told reporters at a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank must "stop now."
Biden says 'did not demand' that Israel delay Gaza invasion
US President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he "did not demand" that Israel delay a ground invasion of Gaza until hostages held by Hamas are freed.
"It's their decision but I did not demand it," Biden said of his conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"What I have indicated to him is that if it's possible to get these folks out safely that's what he should do."
Biden also said he has "no confidence" in civilian casualty figures put forward by Palestinians.
US envoy back in Middle East to address crisis
A senior US diplomat on Wednesday returned to the Middle East on the latest bid to stop the spread of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Barbara Leaf, the top US envoy for the Middle East, flew back to the region after accompanying Secretary of State Antony Blinken on a crisis tour.
She started in the United Arab Emirates and will also visit Qatar, Oman, Egypt, Jordan and Israel, with other stops possible, the State Department said.
Leaf will "consult with regional partners and advance efforts to prevent the conflict in the Middle East from spreading," a State Department statement said.
The trip comes as President Joe Biden issued a new plea for Israel to do "everything in its power" to protect civilians, even as the United States backs Israel's right to respond to Hamas attacks.
Hamas militants on October 7 infiltrated Israel in a surprise attack that killed at least 1,400 people, primarily civilians, including children, the elderly and revelers at a music festival, according to Israeli officials.
Since the October 7 attack, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says more than 6,500 Palestinians, mostly civilians and many of them children, have been killed by Israel's relentless retaliatory bombardments.