Biden touts 'unshakeable support' for Israel

Washington, Dec 12 (IANS) US President Joe Biden has touted his "unshakeable support for the safety of the Jewish people and the security of Israel and its right to exist” as the Jewish nation and Hamas continue their war in Gaza.

He made the remarks on Monday night at a reception hosted by him and First Lady Jill Biden to celebrate the fifth night of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, CNN reported.

President Biden was joined by Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and a group of White House officials that descended from Holocaust survivors who lit the White House menorah.

The event featured some 800 guests, including Holocaust survivors, lawmakers and various Jewish leaders, according to the White House.

In his address, the President said: "We’ll continue to provide military assistance to Israel until they get rid of Hamas, but we have to be careful — they have to be careful.

“The whole world’s public opinion can shift overnight, we can’t let that happen.”

The President also hailed the work his administration has done to secure the release of hostages still held in Gaza and the delivery of humanitarian aid to the region.

“We're working relentlessly for the safe return of the hostages. I personally spent countless hours -- and I mean it, probably up to 20 hours with the Qataris and Egyptians, the Israelis -- to secure the freedom of hostages, to get the trucks in, to get the humanitarian aid flowing, to convince them to open the gate, to have (Egyptian President Abdel Fattah) El-Sisi make sure he opened the gate into Egypt.

“And there's a whole range of things going on now that are really very, very difficult. We've gotten more than 100 hostages out and we're not going to stop till we get every one of them home," CNN quoted President Biden as saying.

According to the White House, there are still seven American men and one woman unaccounted for since the Israel-Hamas war began.

Four Americans -- a four-year-old girl and three women -- have been released so far.

Israeli officials have said that about 137 people remain captive in Gaza, including foreign nationals.

During the humanitarian pause from November 24-30, 86 Israeli and 24 foreign hostages were released.