US President Joe Biden is reportedly losing patience with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Tel Aviv’s ongoing assault on the besieged Gaza Strip which has entered its 100 days.
The Axios news website, citing US officials with knowledge of the matter, reported on Sunday that Biden and senior US officials are becoming “increasingly frustrated” with Netanyahu and his rejection of most of Washington’s recent requests regarding the war in Gaza.
The US officials went on to say that US support for Israel’s war on Gaza has largely continued publicly, but behind the scenes, there are growing signs that Biden is losing his patience.
“The situation sucks and we are stuck. The president’s patience is running out,” a US official told Axios.
“More and more signs of irritation are emerging. There is immense frustration,” another US official told the American news website.
Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, who has been in close contact with US officials about the Gaza war, also stated that Netanyahu appears “more willing to listen” to the far-right ministers in his cabinet — namely Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich– than to “what the president of the United States says.”
“They are pleading with the Netanyahu coalition, but getting slapped in the face over and over again,” he said.
Axios further noted that Biden has not engaged in conversation with the Israeli premier for the past 20 days, describing as “tense” the last phone call between the two sides which occurred on December 23.
The report went on to say that Biden ended with the words “This conversation is over” after Netanyahu rejected his request that Israel release the Palestinian tax revenues Israel is withholding.
In addition, Biden and his advisers believe Israel is not doing enough to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza,
The Israeli regime waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s atrocities against Palestinians.
Since the start of the aggression, Israel has killed more than 23,843 Palestinians, mostly women and children. Nearly 60,317 Palestinians have also been wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The Tel Aviv regime has also imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.
The US, Israel’s biggest and oldest ally, has backed Tel Aviv’s ferocious attacks on the Palestinian territory as an instance of “self-defense,” and has provided the regime with thousands of arms consignments since the onset of the war.
Washington has also been casting its veto against the United Nations Security Council’s resolutions calling on the occupying regime to cease its aggression.
