Biden says Netanyahu's approach to the war is a mistake

TEL AVIV

U.S. President Joe Biden has called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza a mistake and called for his government to flood the beleaguered territory with aid, ramping up pressure on Israel to reach a cease-fire and widening a rift between the two staunch allies.

Palestinians in Gaza marked a muted start to the Eid al-Fitr holiday, with parents visiting the graves of sons and daughters killed in the war. After morning prayers, Muslims often visit the resting places of loved ones during the three-day festival marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

At a cemetery in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah, Samahir Za’neen crouched over the tombstone of her 20-year-old son, who was killed in an airstrike in January while walking in the city. “His Eid [is] in Paradise, God willing,” she said.

Biden has been an outspoken supporter of Israel’s war against Hamas since the militant group launched a deadly assault on Oct. 7 last year. But in recent weeks his patience with Netanyahu has appeared to be waning and his administration has taken a more stern line with Israel, rattling the countries’ decades-old alliance and deepening Israel's international isolation over the war.

The most serious disagreement has been over Israel’s plans for an offensive in the southernmost Gaza city of Rafah and the rift has spiraled since, worsened by an Israeli airstrike last week on an aid convoy, which killed seven workers with the food charity World Central Kitchen, most of them foreigners. Israel said the deaths were unintentional but Biden was outraged.

Biden’s comments, made in an interview that aired late on April 9 after being recorded two days after the WCK strike, highlight the differences between Israel and the U.S. over humanitarian aid to people in Gaza, where a monthslong war has led to warnings of imminent famine.

“What he’s doing is a mistake. I don’t agree with his approach,” Biden told Spanish-language broadcaster Univision.

He was responding to being asked if Netanyahu is prioritizing his political survival over the national interest.

Biden said Israel should agree to a cease-fire, flood beleaguered Gaza with aid for the next six to eight weeks and allow other countries in the region to help distribute the aid. “It should be done now,” he said.

Hunger in Gaza is overshadowing the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, a typically joyous festival during which families celebrate the end of Ramadan.

Israel halted aid deliveries to Gaza in the early days of the war, but under U.S. pressure has slowly increased trucks allowed to enter the territory. Still, aid groups have complained that supplies are not reaching desperate people quickly enough, blaming Israeli restrictions, and countries have attempted other ways to deliver them including air drops and by sea.

Israel says its has steadily ramped up aid throughout the war, opening up more entry points for trucks to enter and to reach especially hard-hit areas like northern Gaza, an early target of Israel's in the war.

Israel blames aid groups for being too slow to deliver aid once it's inside Gaza. Those groups say logistical issues and the precarious security situation – underscored by the WCK strike – complicate aid deliveries.

Israel and Hamas are currently engaged in talks meant to bring about a cease-fire in exchange for the release of hostages captured by Hamas and others who stormed across the border on Oct. 7 last year. But the sides remain far apart on key issues, including the return of Palestinians to hard-hit northern Gaza. Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet met late on April 9 to discuss the hostage negotiations, but did not appear to make any decisions.