WASHINGTON - Mr Joe Biden said Mr Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to the war in Gaza was “hurting Israel more than helping Israel”, in an interview aired on March 9, as the US leader’s impatience with his Israeli counterpart grows increasingly visible.

With Gaza’s humanitarian crisis growing more dire and Mr Biden’s left flank in uproar, the US President made contradictory remarks as to the question of a “red line” over Israel’s threatened offensive on Rafah in southern Gaza.

Mr Netanyahu “has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas”, Mr Biden said, but added that “he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken”.

“In my view, he is hurting Israel more than helping Israel,” Mr Biden said.

As to Israel’s potential invasion of Rafah, where some 1.5 million of the territory’s 2.4 million residents are now crammed, Mr Biden was ambiguous.

“It is a red line,” the 81-year-old Democrat said, immediately adding: “I am never going to leave Israel. The defence of Israel is still critical.

“There is no red line (in which) I want to cut off all weapons so they don’t have the Iron Dome (air defence system) to protect them.”

He then once again countered that there were, in fact, “red lines... You cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead”.

After Mr Biden’s State of the Union address on March 7, he was caught on a hot mic stating that he had told Mr Netanyahu they would need to have a “come to Jesus” meeting, an American expression that refers to a dramatic realisation that one must correct course.

Despite Mr Biden’s shift in tone, his administration has given short shrift to activist calls to cut the billions of dollars in military aid the United States sends to Israel.

Gaza has faced relentless bombardment by Israel since Hamas launched a shocking cross-border attack on Oct 7 that resulted in about 1,160 deaths, most of them civilians, according to official figures.

Hamas also seized about 250 hostages, 99 of whom are believed by Israel to remain alive in Gaza.

Israel’s retaliatory operations in Hamas-controlled Gaza have killed more than 30,800 people, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.

Mr Biden was evasive on March 9 on the possibility of a new trip to Israel, which he visited last October shortly after the deadly Hamas attack, and which included a speech to lawmakers.

Asked if it was something he would do again, Mr Biden responded “yes”, but declined to say whether he was invited. AFP