YEREVAN, APRIL 5, ARMENPRESS. U.S. president Joe Biden spoke by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday and gave him an ultimatum: protect Palestinian civilians and foreign aid workers in Gaza or Washington could rein in support for Israel in its war against Hamas militants, Reuters reports.

“He [President Biden] made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers. He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps,” the White House statement reads. 

The White House did not say exactly what steps it wanted Netanyahu to take, nor what it would do if he failed to take them. But analysts, according to Reuters, said the implicit threat was to slow U.S. arms transfers to Israel or to temper U.S. support at the U.N.

The message follows an Israeli attack that killed seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers and triggered global outrage. Several charity organizations, including WCK, have paused their operations in Gaza. Israel says the strikes which killed the workers were a "grave mistake".

The war began after Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, prompting an Israeli invasion that has laid waste to much of the densely populated territory and displaced most of its 2.3 million people. More than 33,000 Palestinians have died, according to the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, of which most were women and children.