Joe Biden calls for ‘pause’ in Gaza fighting as Israel steps up offensive

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US president Joe Biden has called for a “pause” in fighting between Israel and Hamas in order to help free hostages held in Gaza, as the Israeli military stepped up its ground offensive in the blockaded enclave.

Speaking at an event in Minnesota on Wednesday, Biden was interrupted by a member of the audience who urged him to back a ceasefire in the Middle Eastern conflict. “I think we need a pause,” the president said. “A pause means give time to get the prisoners out.”

Biden’s comments did not represent a call for a full ceasefire, which the White House has resisted since the war between Israel and Hamas began three weeks ago. But US officials have said in recent days they would consider supporting a temporary halt in hostilities if it were limited to helping humanitarian efforts.

The Israel Defense Forces overnight struck the crowded Jabalia refugee camp again, saying it had targeted a high-ranking Hamas commander there. Palestinian health authorities said the two strikes on the camp in northern Gaza this week had killed almost 200 people.

The Israeli ground offensive is pushing further south into Gaza City, the enclave’s largest population centre and the centre of Hamas’s political and military power. Israeli forces have dropped about “10,000 munitions” on the city itself, said defence minister Yoav Gallant. “We are at the gates of Gaza City,” Brigadier General Itzik Cohen said on Wednesday.

About 300 aid trucks in total have been allowed into Gaza since the beginning of the war, compared with 400 daily before the war began. Biden has repeatedly asked the Israelis to facilitate more aid, saying on Wednesday that the relief efforts “had a long way to go”.

The Israeli government has said the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains manageable, though the UN and others report widespread shortages of food, clean…