Biden Threatens US Policy Change Toward Gaza in Warning to Netanyahu

The United States on Thursday issued its toughest public rebuke of Israel since its war against Hamas began in the fall, warning that US policy toward Gaza moving forward will be determined by whether Israel takes certain actions to address the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave.

US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call that the humanitarian situation in Gaza was “unacceptable” and demanded Jerusalem take significant steps to alleviate the problem, according to a White House readout of the conversation.

Biden “made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers,” the statement said.

The White House also appeared to threaten to pull back US support for Israel in its war against the Hamas terrorist group if the Jewish state’s humanitarian measures are deemed insufficient by Washington.

“He [Biden] made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps,” the readout said.

White House spokesperson John Kirby declined at a briefing after the call to elaborate on any specific changes the US would make in its policy toward Israel and Gaza.

Asked about possible changes in US policy, a spokesperson for Netanyahu told Fox News: “I think it’s something that Washington will have to explain.”

The call between the two leaders came after an accidental Israeli military strike on a World Central Kitchen convoy on Monday killed seven aid workers. The White House had described Biden as outraged by the attack. Israeli officials described the incident as a misidentification, saying they would adjust tactics and publicize the findings of a probe into the strike.

In his call, Biden pushed for Israel to agree to an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza.

“He underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the prime minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home,” the White House said.

Israel has maintained that any ceasefire agreement must include the release of all its remaining hostages in Gaza. Israeli officials have also cautioned that any long-term truce would allow Hamas to regroup and strengthen its position to continue attacking the Jewish state.

Hamas, which rules Gaza, launched the current war with its invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, when the terrorist group murdered 1,200 people and took 253 others as hostages. Over 100 of those kidnapped were released as part of a temporary ceasefire agreement in November.

Israel responded to the invasion with a military offensive in neighboring Gaza aimed at freeing all the hostages and incapacitating Hamas to the point that it could no longer pose a major threat to the Israeli people. Hamas leaders have pledged to carry out massacres against Israel like the one on Oct. 7 “again and again.”

Biden expressed strong support for Israel following the Oct. 7 onslaught, and since then the US has sent significant amounts of munitions to the Jewish state for its war effort against Hamas. However, as the humanitarian situation in Gaza has worsened and civilian casualties have increased, Democrats have increasingly pressured Biden to distance the US from Israel and withhold military aid.

Some prominent observers have suggested that the Biden administration’s changing position on Israel and the war, which has taken place over the last several weeks, may be influenced by domestic political fears of losing electoral support from anti-Israel voters.

In Michigan, for example, a key battleground state and home to America’s largest Arab population, a campaign to vote “uncommitted” during the state’s primary rather than for Biden gained significant support.

Biden was not the only major US official to threaten a change in US policy toward Israel and Gaza on Thursday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Brussels that Israel “must meet this moment” by increasing humanitarian assistance and ensuring the security of those who provide aid.

“If we don’t see the changes that we need to see, there’ll be changes in our policy,” Blinken told reporters.

Israel on Wednesday revealed detailed information about the significant amount of humanitarian aid it has provided to Gaza since mid-October. According to the data, Israel authorized the entry of nearly 3,000 trucks into Gaza, carrying a total of 40,475 tons of humanitarian aid such as food, water, medicine, and shelter equipment. An additional 447 tons of material were transported by sea.

Meanwhile, analyses of casualty figures coming out of Gaza suggests the Hamas-controlled health authorities there systematically overcount civilian casualties and undercount terrorist combatants who were killed.

 Also on Thursday’s call between Biden and Netanyahu, the two leaders discussed recent public threats by Iranian officials against Israel. Iran is the main international sponsor of Hamas, providing the Palestinian terrorist group with arms, funding, and training.

“President Biden made clear that the United States strongly supports Israel in the face of those threats,” the White House readout concluded.