Biden appeals for support for Israel, Ukraine; Israel bombs Gaza church sheltering displaced people as Netanyahu adamant on ‘heavy blow’ to Hamas

US President Joe Biden has called for support for Israel and Ukraine, saying it is vital for US national security.

Biden made the appeal in an address to the American public from the Oval Office on Thursday.

He said, “We’re facing an inflection point in history. One of those moments where the decisions we make today are going to determine the future for decades to come.”

Biden referred to the fighting between the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Israel and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

He said terrorists like Hamas and tyrants like Russia’s President Vladimir Putin should never be allowed to win. He said, “History has taught us that when terrorists don’t pay a price for their terror, when dictators don’t pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and death and more destruction.” He added, “And the cost and the threats to America and the world keep rising.”

Biden said he will send an urgent budget request to Congress on Friday “to fund America’s national security needs, to support our critical partners, including Israel and Ukraine.” He described this as a “smart investment,” which will “help us build a world that is safer, more peaceful and more prosperous for our children and grandchildren.”

US government officials reportedly say the request will total roughly 100 billion dollars over the next year.

US presidents have often used their speeches from the Oval Office to appeal for national unity in critical moments. Biden’s address was the first since June and only the second since he took office.

An Israeli air attack has killed and injured a “large number” of displaced people sheltering at a church compound in Gaza, according to the besieged Palestinian enclave’s interior ministry.

The strike left a “large number of martyrs and injured” at the compound of the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza City, the ministry said on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, Israel’s military says it is reviewing reports on casualties after Hamas says the attack on the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza City killed and injured a ‘large number’ of people.

The Israeli military told AFP that its fighter jets had hit a command and control centre involved in launching rockets and mortars towards Israel.

“As a result of the IDF [Israeli army] strike, a wall of a church in the area was damaged,” it said, adding “we are aware of reports on casualties. The incident is under review.”

Witnesses told the AFP news agency the air raid appeared to have been aimed at a target close to the 12th-century place of worship where many Christian and Muslim Gaza residents had taken refuge as the war raged in the enclave.

They said the attack damaged the facade of the church and caused an adjacent building to collapse, adding that many injured people were evacuated to hospital.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem expressed its “strongest condemnation” of the strike.

“Targeting churches and their institutions, along with the shelters they provide to protect innocent citizens, especially children and women who have lost their homes due to Israeli airstrikes on residential areas over the past 13 days, constitutes a war crime that cannot be ignored,” the patriarchate said in a statement.

Explaining the damage done to the church, the Israeli military claimed: “Hamas intentionally embeds its assets in civilian areas and uses the residents of the Gaza Strip as human shields.”

Saint Porphyrius, built in about 1150, is the oldest church still in use in Gaza. Located in an historic neighbourhood of Gaza City, the church offered sanctuary to people of various faiths over generations.

World leaders are witnessing what one has called a “moment of profound crisis.” They fear the conflict between Israel and the Islamist militant group Hamas, which is already unlike any in the Middle East in decades, will only escalate.

Netanyahu have boasted, “We are going to win with all our might. The entire nation of Israel stands behind you. We will deal a heavy blow to our enemies until we achieve victory.”

And corroborating, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said soldiers who are now looking at Gaza from a distance will see it “from the inside.”

Israeli troops have seen Hamas fighters launch attacks that have killed more than 1400 people. They’ve retaliated with repeated airstrikes. Authorities in Gaza say at least 3,785 Palestinians have been killed.

Israeli units have been deployed along the border with Gaza, poised to cross over. On Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited one staging ground to rally his troops.

Gaza has been hit by a relentless barrage of Israeli fire following an attack by Hamas fighters on October 7, which Israel says killed at least 1,400 people, most of them civilians.

Israel’s campaign since has killed at least 3,785 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas health ministry.

Israeli leaders had cut off supplies to Gazan civilians. However, after meeting with US President Joe Biden on Wednesday, Netanyahu says they will allow deliveries of food, water and medicine — as long as they do not benefit Hamas. Aid workers expect 20 trucks could cross into Gaza as soon as Friday.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said they need to respond the “most basic needs” of civilians. He has called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

LENS with wire reports