Biden says Netanyahu could be prolonging Gaza war for political aims

WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden said Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu may be stalling on ending the war in Gaza for political reasons, according to an interview with Time magazine released on June 4.

The comments in the May 28 interview were made a few days before Mr Biden

detailed a proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza

and as Mr Netanyahu struggles with deep political divisions at home.

Asked whether he thought Mr Netanyahu was prolonging the war for his own political reasons, Mr Biden said: “There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion.”

Mr Biden, who has been pushing for an end to the nearly eight-month war, also said it was “uncertain” whether Israeli forces have committed war crimes in Gaza.

In May, the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor in The Hague

requested arrest warrants

for Mr Netanyahu and his defence chief, as well as three Hamas leaders, over alleged war crimes.

Israel launched an air and ground offensive in Gaza in October 2023 vowing to destroy the Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas after it attacked inside Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 people hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Around 120 hostages remain in Gaza.

The Israeli assault has killed more than 36,000 people in Gaza, according to the health authorities there, who say thousands more bodies are buried under rubble.

Opinion polls show most Israelis support the war but blame Mr Netanyahu for the security failures on Oct 7 and would vote him out if there were an election.

Mass street protests have become weekly events, drawing

tens of thousands demanding the government do more

to bring home the hostages and calling for Mr Netanyahu to go. REUTERS