Biden says there is ‘every reason’ to believe Netanyahu is prolonging the war for political reasons.
President Biden, asked whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was prolonging the war in Gaza in an effort to hold on to office, said that he believed “there is every reason for people to draw that conclusion,” lending his voice to something many in his administration have been saying privately for months.
His statement came in an interview with Time magazine published Tuesday that was conducted May 28, three days before Mr. Biden gave a speech revealing the details of what he called an “Israeli plan” to bring about an exchange of hostages and a permanent cease-fire. His decision to describe the Israeli plan in public appeared to be a clear effort to lock in Mr. Netanyahu, who did not publicly reveal the details and seemed to back away from some of them after Mr. Biden’s statement last Friday.
Both in Jerusalem and Washington, Mr. Netanyahu is widely seen as highly aware that an end to the conflict could easily result in his being swept from office — especially once investigations began into how Israel ignored evidence of the Oct. 7 terror attack that killed nearly 1,200 Israelis, and how slowly Israel’s defense forces responded. Street protests against him have begun to gather momentum again, eight months after the attack.
In addition, Mr. Netanyahu’s governing coalition depends on two leaders of far-right parties — Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich — who have signaled they will pull out of the government if the prime minister agrees to a peace deal that does not drive Hamas completely from power.
On Tuesday, Mr. Biden acknowledged the political difficulties Mr. Netanyahu faces. Asked by a reporter in Washington if Mr. Netanyahu was “playing politics” with the war, Mr. Biden said: “I don’t think so. He’s trying to work out a serious problem he has.”
Mr. Biden declined, in the interview with Time, to say whether Israel remained the main obstacle to a deal with Saudi Arabia, in which the country would give diplomatic recognition to Israel for the first time in return for help building a nuclear industry and Israel’s agreement to help create a separate Palestinian state. Mr. Netanyahu has made clear, both before and after the attacks, that he will not agree to a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
Tensions between Mr. Biden and Mr. Netanyahu have been obvious for months, as the Israeli prime minister has refused American calls for Israel to allow far larger amounts of aid to reach Palestinian civilians, and to come up with a plan to move, house and feed hundreds of thousands of displaced refugees from Rafah, the current center of military action. But Mr. Biden was careful not to criticize Mr. Netanyahu in the interview, other than to agree that he was clinging to office by prolonging the war.
Later on Tuesday, the White House national security spokesman, John F. Kirby, told reporters that Mr. Biden was “referencing what many critics have said” and that he would let Mr. Netanyahu speak for himself.
“But for our part, we’re going to make sure that Israel has what it needs to continue to eliminate the threat by Hamas, and we’re going to continue to work with the prime minister and the war cabinet to try to get this proposal over the finish line,” Mr. Kirby said, adding that Hamas now needed to accept the proposal.
Mr. Biden and Mr. Netanyahu would talk again “as appropriate,” though they did not now have specific plans, he said.
Michael D. Shear in Washington contributed reporting.
— David E. Sanger
Key Developments
Israel carries out new strikes in central Gaza, and other news.
The Israeli military said on Tuesday it was carrying out a new wave of airstrikes and ground raids around Bureij in central Gaza, hitting, among other targets, a U.N. school building where it claimed Hamas fighters were “embedded.” Palestinian news outlets reported that at least five had been killed in the strikes on Bureij, and three more people died in strikes in nearby Maghazi. The Israeli offensive in Bureij came after Israeli forces pulled out of Jabaliya in northern Gaza last week, after weeks of intense battle that left it in ruins.
The C.I.A. director and the White House’s Middle East coordinator are returning to the Middle East this week, officials said, as President Biden steps up pressure on Israel and Hamas to agree to a deal that would end the fighting. The Middle East coordinator, Brett McGurk, is expected to go to Cairo for talks about a possible deal on a cease-fire and hostage release, as well as to the military situation in Rafah. The C.I.A. director, William J. Burns, will travel to Qatar for meetings on the hostage talks, a U.S. official said.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, told the Israeli prime minister in a telephone call on Tuesday that France also backed an Israeli peace proposal endorsed by President Biden. Mr. Macron called for an end to the war in Gaza and release of all hostages being held there, his office said. The French president also said that Hamas has an “overwhelming” responsibility to accept the proposal. “The ordeal of the Palestinians in Gaza must come to an end,” he said. Mr. Netanyahu’s office said the prime minister had stressed to Mr. Macron that the proposed deal would still let Israel obtain its goals, including “the elimination of Hamas.” Mr. Netanyahu has been struggling to persuade right-wing members of his coalition who demand the complete dismantling of Hamas before they will agree to accept the plan.
Slovenia’s parliament on Tuesday officially recognized the state of Palestine, a move that came shortly after three other European countries — Spain, Ireland and Norway — took similar steps last month. Tanja Fajon, Slovenia’s foreign minister, wrote on social media after the vote that the recognition of Palestine sent “a message of hope and peace.” She added that “only a two-state solution can lead to a lasting peace,” and vowed that Slovenia would “tirelessly continue to work on the security of both nations, Palestinians and Israelis.”
Qatar is waiting for Israel to clarify its position on the cease-fire proposal outlined by the United States, a spokesman for the Qatari foreign ministry, Majed al-Ansari, said on Tuesday. The Gulf state, which is a mediator in the conflict, has received an Israeli proposal, delivered it to Hamas and is now “waiting for a clear Israeli position that represents the entire government,” he said.
The United Nations’ human rights office called for an end to violence in the occupied West Bank, saying that Israeli security forces had killed more than 500 Palestinians there since the start of the war in Gaza, according to U.N. figures. Volker Türk, the U.N. human rights chief, said that Israel must enforce rules of engagement in line with human rights standards and allow allegations of unlawful killings to be independently investigated. The Israeli military, which has said it is conducting counterterrorism operations in the West Bank, did not immediately comment.
Israel has signed an agreement with the U.S. to buy another squadron of F-35 fighter jets, using American military aid, in a roughly $3 billion deal, the Israeli defense ministry said on Tuesday. Delivery of the jets, some of the most advanced and expensive weapons in America’s arsenal, will begin in 2028 and bring the number of F-35s in Israel’s air fleet to 75. In February, a Dutch court ordered the Netherlands to stop exporting F-35 parts to Israel after finding a “clear risk” that the jets were being used in “serious violations of international humanitarian law.”
Some Gazans call on Hamas to accept the latest cease-fire proposal, but many remain pessimistic.
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Some Palestinians in Gaza expressed hope that peace talks might advance after President Biden endorsed an Israeli road map toward a permanent cease-fire and called on Hamas to accept the plan. But many remained skeptical that U.S. influence would help bring an immediate end to the war and their suffering.
After eight months of devastating bombardment, many in Gaza believe Hamas should make any compromise necessary to end the war and allow rebuilding to begin.
“I am hopeful that Hamas will accept this deal,” said Ayman Skeik, a 31-year-old merchant from Gaza City who was displaced to Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. “But I am still scared it would not be achieved.”
Declaring Hamas no longer capable of carrying out a major terrorist attack on Israel, President Biden said on Friday that it was time for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza and endorsed a new plan he said Israel had offered to win the release of hostages and work toward a permanent end to the war and the reconstruction of Gaza.
Hamas has said it was responding “positively,” but has kept Palestinians in suspense for days about whether it would formally agree. On Tuesday, Sami Abu Zuhri, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, accused the Netanyahu government of not being serious about reaching a deal. He said Mr. Biden was pressuring his group to accept the plan “despite the White House knowing that the problem lies with” Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel — who remains under pressure from far-right members of his coalition opposed to the deal — has neither publicly accepted nor rejected the proposal, but he has insisted that Israel will not end the war without the “destruction” of Hamas’s governing and military capabilities.
Like many other Gazans, Mr. Skeik said that he had grown frustrated after several rounds of cease-fire negotiations fell through in the past. Previous American, Qatari and Egyptian efforts to bring both sides to an agreement have faltered, with Mr. Biden suggesting in February that a cease-fire was imminent, even as Hamas and Israel continued to remain far apart.
“The United States used to have a strong word when it wanted to stop any crisis in the world,” he said. “But nowadays, I see a different thing.”
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The first phase of the proposal laid out by Biden called for both sides to observe a temporary six-week cease-fire, while they continued to negotiate to reach a permanent one. That scared Mr. Skeik, who said that without an immediate permanent cease-fire, he was worried the fighting would continue after or even during the first phase.
“I want to get back to my old life,” he said from a cafe where he can connect to the internet. But Mr. Skeik was worried that Hamas would nitpick the language and drag out negotiations, which would further forestall the possibility of him going home.
“We want Hamas to sign this deal to maintain a long-term peace and cease-fire for us and our children to live in peace and safety,” said Anas al-Borno, a 36-year-old businessman from Gaza City who was displaced with his family to Deir al-Balah. But he was “still hopeless and pessimistic,” that Israel and Hamas would both agree to the deal, he added.
Some praised Mr. Biden for his speech last week, in which the president laid out details of the Israeli plan. It was an unusual move to speak for another country, and appeared to be a move to further pressure Mr. Netanyahu after months of American admonitions.
“I think what Biden said on TV was a sudden change for me and many other people,” said Ahmed al-Masri, a 21-year-old dentistry student from Gaza City. “The United States has chosen the route of surprises recently so I hope this comes true and is real,” he added.
But others doubted it would mean much.
“The United States must impose solutions to all sides, not just propose and suggest ideas,” said Raed al-Kelani, 47, a civil servant from northern Gaza. He added that although he believed President Biden could press both Hamas and Mr. Netanyahu to agree to the deal, he was “only 50 percent optimistic.”
— Bilal Shbair and Hiba Yazbek
Hostage families, initially optimistic on a new cease-fire deal, feel hope slipping away.
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When President Biden unveiled the terms of a new proposal for a cease-fire last week, many families of hostages held captive in the Gaza Strip were optimistic that a deal setting their loved ones free might finally be imminent.
They had reason to believe significant progress had been made: Mr. Biden said he was sharing the outline of an Israeli offer, one that included language that was closer to Hamas’s demand of a permanent cease-fire, and Hamas initially responded to the American president’s remarks saying it viewed them positively.
Now, four days later, the families of hostages have grown increasingly concerned that the latest proposal will end in failure. Far-right members of Israel’s coalition have threatened to take down the government if Israel agrees to end the war without toppling Hamas, and Hamas has not formally consented to the proposal shared by Mr. Biden.
The latest impasse has reinforced the feeling among relatives of hostages that they have been on a seemingly never-ending roller-coaster ride, a vicious cycle of raising their hopes for a deal only to be disappointed time and time again.
“It’s incredibly frustrating to have this yo-yo experience once again,” said Lee Siegel, the brother of Keith Siegel, a 65-year-old Israeli-American hostage. “Every day that goes by it becomes exponentially more difficult to continue with hope.”
Advocates for the release of hostages have warned that the conditions for them have been growing more precarious each day, especially for older adults and people who are ill. Without an agreement, they worry that the majority of the hostages in Gaza won’t return to Israel alive.
“Everyone is terrified that they’ll receive a call from the authorities informing them that their family member was found dead,” said Gili Roman, the brother of Yarden Roman-Gat, who was released from captivity in November. Ms. Roman-Gat’s 40-year-old sister-in-law, Carmel Gat, was still being held in Gaza, according to Israel.
On Monday, the Israeli army announced that it had concluded that four hostages had died in the Khan Younis area months ago.
The hostage families’ mounting concerns come as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mulls whether to push ahead with the proposal on the table in the face of countervailing pressures: As the international community demands a cease-fire and Israel isolates itself further, his domestic right-wing allies, whose support he has relied on to remain in power, reject any agreement that would lead to an end of the war without eliminating Hamas.
Another layer of pressure has come from the families of hostages, but some have lost hope that demonstrations in Israel will compel Mr. Netanyahu to agree to a deal and believe only unrelenting American pressure will make that happen.
“The United States should not leave Netanyahu for a second until he signs on to an agreement. Not a second,” said Gilad Korngold, the father of Tal Shoham, a 39-year-old hostage from northern Israel. “That’s what’s needed.”
Mr. Korngold said that three members of his family were killed on Oct. 7, and six others who had been abducted were released during a short-lived cease-fire in late November.
While Israeli officials have said the proposal Mr. Biden presented generally aligned with a new offer approved by Israel’s war cabinet, Mr. Netanyahu has rejected ending the war without destroying Hamas’s governing and military capabilities.
Mr. Biden said if Hamas abided by the proposal he outlined, that would ultimately lead to the “cessation of hostilities permanently.”
Mr. Korngold, however, said that the American government also needed to apply unyielding pressure on Hamas through Qatar to force them to approve an agreement.
“Hamas is not saying no but it’s also not saying yes,” he said. “It also has to get the message.”
Hamas officials have claimed that it was up to Israel to agree to a cease-fire and dismissed American calls on the group to approve the proposal.
As time passes, Mr. Siegel said he was becoming particularly fearful for his brother because he was diagnosed with high blood pressure last year.
“His absence weighs on us every minute, every hour, every day,” he said. “Each day he isn’t here could be his last day.”
— Adam Rasgon Reporting from Jerusalem
