PRESIDENT Biden apologized to some prominent Muslim-American leaders for publicly questioning the Palestinian death toll being reported by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health, a new report says.
Biden huddled with five Muslim American leaders the day after his Oct. 25 comments about reported Gaza deaths roiled the Islamic community, vowing to “do better.”
During the meeting, which was initially planned for 30 minutes but lasted more than twice as long, Biden heard the leaders describe individuals they knew who were personally affected by the conflict.
“I’m sorry. I’m disappointed in myself,” Biden told the group, the Washington Post reported.
A day before, during a press conference, the president openly questioned the accuracy of the casualty figures from Gaza, given Hamas’ terror track record.
“I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed,” Biden said.
“I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s a price of waging war,” he added.
More than 14,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including many women and children, have been killed in the conflict, according to data from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.
The Muslim-American leaders who met with Biden urged him to show more empathy to the Palestinians. Biden reportedly hugged one of the participants at the end of the meeting.
Biden has faced pressure from members of his own administration, including a group of 20 staffers this month who wanted to hear a strategy to curtail civilian deaths in Gaza, the outlet said.
Some prominent Democrats have publicly disparaged the president’s response to the war raging half a world away.
Biden has affirmed US support for Israel following the bloody Oct. 7 attack.
But he also has increasingly pushed for a pause in the fighting to allow humanitarian aid to flow into the beleaguered Gaza Strip and for hostages to get released.
“For weeks, I’ve been advocating to pause the fighting for two purposes: to increase the assistance getting into the Gaza civilians who need help and to facilitate [the] release of hostages,” Biden said Sunday.
“We know that innocent children in Gaza are suffering greatly as well,” the president said.
Hamas and Israel agreed to pause fighting for four days as a hostage-for-prisoner deal takes place.
That pause began Friday, and Hamas has agreed to free roughly 50 hostages in return for the temporary peace and dozens of Palestinian prisoners.
The president has increasingly implored Israel to minimize civilian casualties as much as possible in its quest to uproot Hamas.
During a press conference Friday, Biden was asked about how some members of his own party want conditions placed on aid to the staunch US ally.
“Well, I think that’s a worthwhile thought, but I don’t think if I started off with that we’d ever gotten to where we are today,” Biden replied.