Biden says killings at Gaza aid site will complicate ceasefire talks

Washington CNN —

The killing of more than a hundred Palestinians at a food distribution site in Gaza where Israeli troops opened fire, triggering panic as civilians were gathering around food aid trucks, has added urgency to ceasefire talks – but could also complicate them, President Joe Biden told reporters on Thursday.

“We’re checking that out right now, there are two competing versions of what happened. I don’t have an answer yet,” the president told CNN’s Arlette Saenz at the White House.

Asked if he was worried the deaths would complicate negotiations, he responded: “Oh, I know it will.”

At least 100 people were killed at the distribution site after Israeli forces began shooting while civilians were waiting for food, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said. A local journalist said many of those killed were crushed under aid trucks that were trying to escape the gunfire.

The Israel Defense Forces said “the incident is under review.”

Almost five months after Israel’s war against Hamas began, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is continuing to escalate, with more than 30,000 people killed - including thousands of children - and hundreds of thousands starving as officials warn the territory is on the brink of famine after relentless Israeli ground and air campaigns.

While Israel faces mounting global pressure to halt the conflict, it has largely retained the support of the United States. President Joe Biden has resisted calls to request a permanent ceasefire.

Biden’s reticence to break with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatens to cost him politically. While the president handedly won Tuesday’s Democratic presidential primaries in Michigan, more than 100,000 Michiganders voted “uncommitted” after a