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, 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' 7 October attack on Israel killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed 33,360 Palestinians, according to the Gaza's health ministry, displaced nearly all of its 2.3 million population and is on the brink of famine.

It's campaign has also been referred to the International Court of Justice for breaking the genocide convention, with a preliminary verdict in January finding it plausible Israel has committed genocidal acts in Gaza.

Nicaragua is challenging Germany at the International Court of Justice, accusing it of contributing to the ongoing war and genocide in Gaza by supplying Israel with military and financial aid.

Nicaragua's plea to the UN's top court in The Hague demands that Germany immediately… pic.twitter.com/WC4wYCDwYX

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) April 9, 2024

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.

(Reuters & The New Arab Staff)