Biden defers deportation of Palestinians in US citing living conditions in Gaza

President Joe Biden has discontinued the deportation of Palestinians living in the US for the next 18 months owing to the deteriorating living conditions in the Gaza Strip, the White House said.

An estimated 6,000 Palestinians have been granted “deferred enforced departure,” a Biden administration official said.

In a statement, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that following “the horrific October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas against Israel, and Israel’s ensuing military response, humanitarian conditions in Gaza have significantly deteriorated.”

Sullivan added that Biden’s new order would provide a “safe haven” for Palestinians in the US. The protection granted to Palestinians would lapse if anyone decided to move to the region voluntarily.

With the war between Israel and Gaza in its fourth month, President Biden has been facing mounting pressures to do more for Palestinians in Gaza and get more aid in the war-torn region. He has also faced criticism from Arab-American and Muslim leaders for not calling for a permanent ceasefire in the conflict.

Biden unhappy with Netanyahu’s war tactics

So far, Biden has been showing support to Netanyahu over Israel’s counteroffensive against Hamas in Gaza.

But recent private conversations reveal that the American president has been expressing his discontent over Netanyahu’s war tactics. Biden said that he has been persuading Israel to agree to a ceasefire deal but Netanyahu is “giving him hell” and is “impossible to deal with,” according to NBC News.

In private conversations with his Israeli counterpart, Biden has reportedly referred to Netanyahu as “this guy” and called him an “a**hole”, pointing out his frustration towards the leader.

“The president has been clear where he disagrees with Prime Minister Netanyahu, but this is a decades-long relationship that is respectful in public and in private,” a spokesperson of the Biden administration said.

With inputs from Reuters