US says it has 'strong assurances' Gaza ceasefire will hold

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The Biden administration has received "strong assurances" that a nascent ceasefire brokered to halt Israel's offensive on the Gaza Strip, and rocket fire from the enclave, will hold, the White House said on Friday.

Spokeswoman Jen Psaki did not specify who the guarantees came from other than to note they were given by "relevant parties," but US President Biden had been engaged diplomatically with the Israeli and Egyptian governments to secure the truce before it went into effect early Friday morning.

Egypt had served as an intermediary with Hamas and other Palestinian groups in Gaza. The cease-fire went into effect at 2 a.m. local time on Friday (2300 GMT Thursday).

The Egyptian-brokered truce came after 11 days of Israeli airstrikes on the blockaded Gaza Strip.

A total of 243 Palestinians, including 39 women and 66 children, have been killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza since May 10. In Israel, 12 people were killed by rocket fire from Gaza.

Psaki said the US "will be watching" the ceasefire's implementation "extremely closely in the coming days," while noting Biden has "no plans to change our security assistance that we’re providing to Israel."

"I will say that the president’s view is that we need to move forward on a couple of fronts, certainly supporting the security of Israel is one of them," she told reporters.

"But another front is playing a constructive role in rebuilding Gaza, providing assistance and funding through UN efforts to do exactly that, ensuring that it is not Hamas, but is the Palestinian people who benefit from that assistance, and doing that through the UN is, in our view, the best way to do that," she added.