US President Joe Biden has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of "hurting Israel" with his handling of the Gaza war through his administration's treatment of Palestinians.
In an interview with MSNBC, Biden said, "Netanyahu has a right to defend Israel, and a right to continue to pursue Hamas, but he must, he must, he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken," Biden said.
"He is hurting Israel more than helping Israel by making the rest of the world... it is contrary to what Israel stands for, and I think it's a big mistake," he added.
Biden added the US would not set a "red line" limiting his actions against Hamas and that he would not "give up" on the possibility of a ceasefire ahead of Ramadan, which begins on Monday.
"The defense of Israel is still critical, so there's no red line I'm going to cut off all weapons so they don't have the Iron Dome to protect them," said Biden.
He further added that he was willing to make another trip to the country and present his case directly to the Israeli Knesset. He, however, declined to elaborate on how or whether such a trip might materialize.
He had traveled to Israel weeks after the October 7 attack.
Israel remains committed to continuing its invasion and annihilating Hamas, which killed about 1,200 people in Israel and took about 250 hostages on Oct. 7, reported AP.
Though Biden had previously stated that he had been "a lifelong supporter of Israel," this is probably his toughest criticism yet of the Israel's Prime Minister.
Biden's comments come days after he was captured on a hot mic following Thursday night's State of the Union address telling Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo. that he and the Israeli leader will need to have a "come to Jesus meeting."
The President's remark hints at his growing frustration with the Israeli leader as the nation continues with its siege of the Gaza Strip that has left many people dead, many of them civilians.
Earlier, in this week's State of the Union address Biden had confirmed that his administration would build a temporary port in Gaza to provide humanitarian aid after Israel restricted deliveries of food, water, medicine and other assistance to Gaza's 2.3mn population.
More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza according to the Hamas-run health ministry, with the majority being women and children, and hundreds of thousands going hungry.
