(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden defended the Israeli government's response to Palestinian rocket attacks, saying Thursday he has not seen a “significant overreaction” to the deadly barrages.
“The question is how we get to a point where -- they get to a point where there is a significant reduction in the attacks, particularly the rocket attacks that are indiscriminately fired into population centers,” Biden told reporters at the White House.
Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and said he expects to have more discussions with top officials there. He said national security officials are in touch with their counterparts in Israel, as well as Egypt and other Arab nations that could play a role in brokering a truce.
“One of the things that I have seen thus far is that there has not been a significant overreaction,” Biden said.
Israel has responded to the rocket attacks with devastating air strikes and has begun calling up thousands of reservists, as the region confronts some of the worst violence it's seen in two decades. Leaders around the world have condemned the violence and urged both sides to exercise restraint.
The death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 87 Palestinians, including 18 children and eight women, and 530 have been wounded, according to the Gaza health ministry.
Seven people have been killed in Israel, including a child and a solider hit by a missile.
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