Agencies
Washington, DC
In what is still a rare public criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu, United States President Joe Biden has said that the Israeli prime minister is not doing enough to finalise a Gaza ceasefire deal.
Biden told reporters outside the White House on Monday that the US is "very close” to presenting a final proposal that would lead to the release of Israeli captives in Gaza.
Asked why he thinks this push would succeed when other attempts to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza have failed, Biden said: "Hope springs eternal.” The US president then answered with a simple "no” when a reporter asked him whether Netanyahu is doing enough to secure a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
Despite the Biden administration attempting to put some distance between itself and Netanyahu over the past few months, amid the unpopularity of Israel’s war on Gaza among Democrat supporters in particular, the criticism is one of the most overt made by the US president – even if it was brief and apparently off the cuff.
Biden met with the US team negotiating the captive release deal after he made his comments on Monday, and received an update on the status of the discussions, the White House said. The renewed US effort to reach a ceasefire comes two days after six Israeli captives – including one American citizen – were found dead in Gaza.
The discovery has fuelled mass protests and strikes across Israel demanding a deal to free the nearly 100 Israelis who remain held by Palestinian groups in Gaza. Meanwhile, Israel has continued its brutal blockade and relentless bombardment of Gaza, which has killed more than 40,700 Palestinians.
The US is Israel’s main weapons supplier and diplomatic ally. Since the start of the war in October, Washington has vetoed three United Nations Security Council proposals that would have called for a ceasefire in Gaza. It abstained on another vote in March demanding an immediate ceasefire.
Israeli forces have pounded the Gaza Strip – killing dozens of Palestinians – despite pledges to "pause” attacks during a critical polio vaccination campaign. In the occupied West Bank, the death toll from Israel’s large-scale raids rose to at least 30 as the Israeli siege on the Jenin refugee camp entered a sixth day.