US President Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone conversation last week that he will not support a year-long war in Gaza, according to an Axios report Friday.
Citing two anonymous US officials, the report said Biden asked Netanyahu to speed up the transition to low-intensity fighting against Hamas that would reduce harm to civilians, warned that “he is not in it for a year of war,” and pressed him on an “end state.”
Israel is four months into a war with Gaza’s Hamas rulers, following the terror group’s murderous rampage across southern Israel on October 7, when thousands of terrorists killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 253 people of all ages as hostages. Following the attack, Israel declared war on Hamas, launching an offensive aimed at removing it from power and returning the hostages.
Netanyahu told a press conference last month that he anticipated the war lasting for many more months, and reportedly told local council leaders two weeks ago that it would continue into 2025.
In their call last week, their first conversation after 27 days, Biden reportedly told Netanyahu that he does not understand exactly what Israel’s strategy is for ending the war, and asked for an answer on the prime minister’s vision for the day after the war.
There has been growing daylight between Washington and Jerusalem on post-war plans, with the US pushing for a scenario that would reunite Gaza politically with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority’s rule as part of a broader diplomatic initiative aimed at an eventual two-state solution and an expanded Abraham Accords.
Israel has rejected this vision.
The call between the two leaders last Friday lasted for nearly 40 minutes and was held in good spirits, Hebrew media reported at the time.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said during a press briefing that the two discussed ongoing efforts to secure the release of all remaining hostages held in Gaza.
“The two leaders also reviewed the situation in Gaza and the shift to targeted operations that will enable the flow of increasing amounts of humanitarian assistance, while keeping the military pressure on Hamas and its leaders significant,” Kirby said. Biden stressed “Israel’s responsibility — even as it maintains military pressure on Hamas and its leaders — to reduce civilian harm and to protect innocent civilians,” he added.
According to the Axios report Friday, an adviser for Biden said the White House was concerned about the Gaza war dominating news cycles and losing support among younger voters, who largely oppose the Biden White House’s policy, ahead of the presidential elections.
Police make arrests as protesters block Brooklyn Bridge during a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel demonstration demanding the cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war on January 8, 2024, in New York. (AP/Andres Kudacki)
“A source close to the White House said Biden can’t have the war and the growing death toll to continue dominating the news cycle as the elections get closer,” the Axios report read.
In response to the report, which was also carried by Walla earlier Friday, Netanyahu’s office said: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appreciates President Biden’s support and made it clear in his conversation with him that Israel is determined to continue the war until all its goals are completed.”
Earlier this week, US officials told Reuters the US has created a channel with Israel to discuss concerns over incidents in Gaza in which civilians have been killed or injured by the Israeli military and civilian facilities have been targeted.
The channel was set up after a meeting earlier this month between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israel’s war cabinet during which Blinken expressed concern about the “constant” reports of Israeli strikes that either hit humanitarian sites or resulted in large numbers of civilian deaths.
The Israel Defense Forces says it has killed close to 10,000 operatives in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7. Some 220 IDF soldiers have been killed in Gaza.
The channel also underscores Washington’s frustration with Israel over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, with the US calling for the amount of aid entering the enclave to be ramped up to alleviate the plight of the civilian population.
Through the channel, which has been active for the last few weeks, Washington raises with the Israelis “every specific incident of concern” related to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, another US official said. The Israelis investigate and provide feedback to the Americans.
In some instances, the Israelis have conveyed additional information that sheds light on an incident while in others, they admitted they “made a mistake,” the officials said, without specifying which ones.
Meanwhile, the US has dispatched CIA director William Burns to Europe this weekend alongside Mossad Director David Barnea to meet Qatar’s prime minister and discuss a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and a release of hostages.
Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel will also participate in the meeting, said one US source.
Burns and Barnea previously met with Qatari and Egyptian officials to help broker a short-lived, weeklong truce in late November that saw 105 hostages freed. Efforts to secure another agreement to release the remaining hostages, among them children and women, have since faltered.
Israel is said to have recently proposed a two-month ceasefire in exchange for a staged release of the hostages, an offer that Hamas rejected, according to Egyptian officials, but talks appear to have continued and a one-month pause was also floated this week
But while talks are continuing, “imminent developments” are unlikely, the White House said Friday.
“We should not expect any imminent developments,” Kirby told journalists Friday afternoon.
