Biden brands Israel’s actions in Gaza a ‘mistake’ in strongest condemnation of Netanyahu yet

Joe Biden has said that Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to the war in Gaza has been a “mistake”, in one of his strongest rebukes of the Israeli prime minister’s response to the ongoing conflict so far.

The president made the remarks during a sit-down interview with Univision, aired on Tuesday evening, in which he said the recent missile strikes on aid convoys in the Middle East were “outrageous” and called for a halt in the fighting.

It comes after The Independent revealed that at least eight internal dissent memos were sent by State Department staff to express disagreement with US policy on Israel and Gaza during the first two months of the war.

The high number of internal dissent memorandums – a formal process by which staff can express concerns internally to a policy – highlights the widespread opposition within the department to the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza.

Last week, Mr Biden told Netanyahu that future US policy towards Israel will be determined by whether its government takes action to protect aid workers and civilians in Gaza, during their first telephone conversation since the deaths of several humanitarian aid workers in the attack on the World Central Kitchen aid convoy.

Asked during the interview whether Mr Netanyahu was “more concerned about his political survival” than the national interest of his people, the president replied: “Well, I will tell you, I think what he’s doing is a mistake. I don’t agree with his approach.”

He continued: “I think it’s outrageous that those four, three vehicles were hit by drones and taken out on a highway where it wasn’t like it was along the shore, it wasn’t like there was a convoy moving there.”

Mr Biden said he was calling for the Israelis to call a ceasefire for six to eight weeks to allow “total access” to all food and medicine supplies going into Gaza.

“I’ve spoken with everyone from the Saudis to the Jordanians to the Egyptians. They’re prepared to move in,” he told Univision. “They’re prepared to move this food in. And I think there’s no excuse to not provide for the medical and the food needs of those people. It should be done now.”

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza following a devastating surprise attack by Hamas on 7 October that killed 1,200 people. More than 200 people were taken hostage.

Since then, Israel’s war has killed more than 33,000 people, according to the Palestinian health ministry – some 13,000 of them children.

The UN and multiple aid organisations working on the ground have warned that Gaza is on the brink of a major famine, and have blamed Israel for blocking the delivery of aid into the strip.