Biden looks to 'what comes next' after Israel-Hamas war

At the beginning of a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday, President Biden spoke about the future, after the crisis involving Israel and Hamas is over. He said “there’s no going back to the status quo as it stood on October the 6th,” the day before Hamas launched its deadly attack on Israel, and reiterated his goal of a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians. In his remarks, Biden also condemned recent attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank, saying, “They have to be held accountable, and it has to stop now.”

Video Transcript

JOE BIDEN: Israelis and Palestinians equally deserve to live side by side in safety, dignity, and peace. There is no going back to the status quo as it stood on October 6. That means ensuring Hamas can no longer terrorize Israel and use Palestinian civilians as human shields.

It also means that when this crisis is over, there has to be a vision of what comes next. And in our view, it has to be a two-state solution. It means a concentrated effort from all the parties-- Israelis, Palestinians, regional partners, global leaders-- to put us on a path toward peace.

In the past few weeks, I've spoken to leaders throughout the region, including King Abdullah of Jordan, President Sisi of Egypt, President Abbas of Palestinian Authority, and just yesterday, with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, about making sure there's real hope in the region for a better future about the need, and I mean this sincerely, about the need to work toward a greater integration for Israel, while insisting that the aspirations of the Palestinian people will be part-- will be part of that future as well.

I'm convinced one of the reasons Hamas attacked when they did-- I have no proof of this. Just my instinct tells me-- is because of the progress we were making towards regional integration for Israel and regional integration overall. And we can't leave that work behind.

And one more word on this. I continue to be alarmed about extremist settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank, that pouring gasoline on fire is what it is like. This was a deal. The deal was made, and they're attacking Palestinians in places that they're entitled to be. It has to stop. They have to be held accountable, and it has to stop now.