US President Joe Biden said Israel is losing support globally on its war in Gaza – marking a departure from his prior embrace of the country fighting Hamas.
Biden warned that the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is beginning to alienate the international community as it has relentlessly bombed Gaza since Hamas’ surprise attack on October 7.
‘They’re starting to lose that support,’ Biden said for the first time at a fundraising event in Washington, DC, on Tuesday.
Biden called Netanyahu’s leadership ‘the most conservative government in Israel’s history’ and added that the prime minister ‘doesn’t want a two-state solution’ with Palestine. He said Netanyahu ‘has to strengthen and change’ the government in order to reach a long-term solution and that he has ‘a tough decision to make’.
The US president seemed to encourage Netanyahu to soften his hardline approach to the conflict.
Biden’s seeming about-face towards Israel came as Australia, Canada and New Zealand jointly called for another pause in hostilities and expressed support for ‘international efforts towards a sustainable ceasefire’.
‘In defending itself, Israel must respect international humanitarian law. Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected,’ the three countries stated on Tuesday.
‘We are alarmed at the diminishing safe space for civilians in Gaza. The price of defeating Hamas cannot be the continuous suffering of all Palestinian civilians.’
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Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel that set off the war killed 1,200 people. As of Saturday, the Palestinian death toll in Gaza had exceeded 17,700, with about two-thirds of the casualties being women and children, according to the Health Ministry.
Biden has long been calling on Israel to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza, including in phone calls with Netanyahu.
On Monday at a White House Hanukkah celebration reception, Biden said: ‘We’ll continue to provide military assistance to Israel until they get rid of Hamas, but we have to be careful – they have to be careful.
‘The whole world’s public opinion can shift overnight, we can’t let that happen.’
Biden also shared that he once gave Netanyahu a photo and wrote on top of it, ‘I love you but I don’t agree with a damn thing you had to say.’
‘It’s about the same today,’ said Biden, explaining that he’s had ‘differences’ with some Israeli leadership.
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