Israel’s war against Gaza live: Israeli tanks besiege Al-Awda hospital | Israeli War on Gaza News

U.S. President Joe Biden most clearly acknowledged students’ dismay over Israel’s war on Gaza, telling graduates of historically black Morehouse College that he had heard their voices of protest and that the scenes from the Gaza conflict also broke his heart.

“I support peaceful, nonviolent protest,” he told students at the all-male college, some of whom wore Palestinian scarves called keffiyehs around their shoulders over their black graduation gowns.

“Their voices should be heard and I promise you, I hear them.”

Biden said he shared the graduates’ concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and continued to push for an agreement to stop the conflict in exchange for the release of prisoners. He said leadership can be “hard and lonely” and that frustration and anger over the conflict had permeated his own family.

“It is one of the most difficult and complicated problems in the world,” the president said. “Nothing is easy there. I know this upsets and frustrates many of you, including my family. But most of all, I know it will break your heart. Mine is breaking too.”

Biden’s comments came near the end of an opening statement in which he also reflected on U.S. democracy and his role in protecting it. The speech, usually a low-key event, has been the focus of attention as there have been sometimes violent protests at universities across the country against Biden’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza.