Biden says Netanyahu’s approach to war in Gaza is a ‘mistake’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to the war in Gaza is a “mistake,” US President Joe Biden said in an interview published on Tuesday (9 April), offering further criticism of Israel’s handling of the conflict.

“I think what he’s doing is a mistake. I don’t agree with his approach,” Biden said in comments to Univision, a US Spanish-language TV network.

Biden has also previously called Israel’s bombing in Gaza “indiscriminate” and its military actions “over the top.”

The White House said last week that the president, in a call with Netanyahu, threatened to make conditional US support for Israel’s offensive on it taking concrete steps to protect aid workers and civilians. That call followed an Israeli airstrike that killed seven staff of the aid group World Central Kitchen.

“What I’m calling for is for the Israelis to just call for a ceasefire, allow for the next six, eight weeks, total access to all food and medicine going into the country,” Biden said in Tuesday’s interview.

Israel’s military assault on Gaza has been the subject of mounting international criticism. Domestically, Biden has also faced months of protests from anti-war activists, Muslims and Arab Americans across the country, who have demanded a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and restrictions on US military assistance for Israel.

Hamas’ & October attack on Israel killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s subsequent military assault on Hamas-governed Gaza has killed over 33,000, according to the local health ministry, displaced nearly all of its 2.3 million population and led to genocide allegations that Israel denies. The coastal enclave also suffers widespread hunger.

Israel has received more US foreign aid than any other country since World War Two, although annual assistance has been dwarfed for two years by funding and military equipment sent to Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion.

The United States has traditionally shielded Israel in the UN Security Council and vetoed three draft resolutions on the war in Gaza. It abstained last month when the Security Council demanded an immediate ceasefire.

US warning on Rafah offensive

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday said he expects talks between Israeli and US officials to take place next week on a potential Israeli military operation in Rafah, Gaza’s last refuge for displaced Palestinians.

Netanyahu said on Monday victory over Hamas required entry into Rafah and said there was a date for the operation, despite Washington’s warning not to go ahead.

Blinken, speaking to reporters after a meeting with British Foreign Minister David Cameron at the State Department, said Washington has not been given a date.

“On the contrary, what we have is an ongoing conversation with Israel about any Rafah operation,” Blinken said, adding that he expected that the talks would continue next week.

“I don’t anticipate any actions being taken before those talks, and for that matter I don’t see anything imminent. But there’s a lot of work to be done and it remains our conviction that major military operations in Rafah would be extremely dangerous for civilians who would be caught in harm’s way.”

Blinken also said the United States is continuing to work closely with Qatar and Egypt on a ceasefire agreement for Gaza. He added that 400 trucks were cleared to go into Gaza on Monday, the most since 7 October, when the conflict was triggered.

(Edited by Georgi Gotev)

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