In what was undoubtedly a tense phone call, President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that "an immediate ceasefire is essential" in Israel's war for survival against Hamas and that "U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps."

According to the official readout, Biden characterized the deaths of World Central Kitchen workers as an intentional strike on humanitarian aid workers and told Netanyahu that it was unacceptable. In a video statement put out hours after the incident, Netanyahu said it was unintentional and that a thorough inquiry would be conducted, and the Israeli military expressed "sincere sorrow" for the deaths.

Biden also "urged the Prime Minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home," according to the readout, as if Netanyahu's negotiators have ever not been empowered to conclude a deal to bring the hostages home. Netanyahu's negotiators have been hamstrung at every turn by the Biden administration, which has failed to use the United States' position on the U.N. Security Council or any other avenue at our disposal to pressure Hamas to release hostages immediately and unharmed.

The two also discussed public threats made against Israel by Iran - a critical topic for Israel given the revelation Wednesday that Israel had intercepted a cache of weapons headed for Hamas, allegedly from Iran. Biden told Netanyahu that the U.S. "strongly supports Israel in the face of those threats," which really doesn't mean a thing, given what U.S. "support" has looked like over the last few years.