"There is every reason ..."

Biden believes Netanyahu is waging a long war out of calculation

Biden met Netanyahu in October 2023 after the Hamas attack.(Bild: AP/Evan Vucci)

According to US President Joe Biden, there is reason to believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is continuing the Gaza war out of political calculation. When asked about this in an interview, Biden initially replied that he did not want to comment on this, but then said: "There's every reason for people to draw that conclusion."

Later on Tuesday, Biden was asked about this statement to "Time Magazine" during an appearance in Washington and apparently straightened it out somewhat. When asked by a reporter whether Netanyahu was playing politics with the war, the politician replied: "I don't think so. He is trying to solve a serious problem that he has."

The background to this could be the deep rifts in Israel's handling of the conflict. Before the war, there was a lot of criticism of Netanyahu's policies. "So it's an internal debate that doesn't seem to have any consequences," Biden was quoted as saying by Time magazine.

Joe Biden has to balance many interests in view of the conflict in the Middle East.(Bild: AP)

New proposal for ceasefire on the table
The conversation with Biden took place on May 28, i.e. before the publication of the US President's proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The proposal provides for a ceasefire, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners and then the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

Biden emphasized his support for Israel in the fight against the Islamist Hamas. However, he also said: "My biggest disagreement with Netanyahu is: What happens when Gaza is over? What will become of it?" He had spoken about this with representatives from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. Biden went on to ask whether Israeli troops would then return to the Gaza Strip. "The answer is: if that's the case, it can't work."

"People in Gaza have suffered greatly"
Biden did not directly answer the question of whether, according to US information, the Israeli military is committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip with a yes or no. "The answer is that it is uncertain and will be investigated by the Israelis themselves," said the US President. "We do not recognize the International Criminal Court. But one thing is certain: the people of Gaza, the Palestinians, have suffered greatly because of the lack of food, water, medicine and other things. And many innocent people have been killed." According to him, much of this has to do not only with the Israelis, but also with Hamas' attack on Israel.

On May 21, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague applied for arrest warrants against Netanyahu and other Israelis. Among other things, they are accused of being responsible for starving civilians as a method of warfare as well as for arbitrary killings and targeted attacks on civilians. Khan emphasized Israel's right to defend its population against all attacks. However, he also stated that this right does not release Israel from its duty to comply with international humanitarian law. Like the USA, Israel does not recognize the court.

Thousands of Palestinians have had to flee the fighting and are currently living in tents in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip.(Bild: APA/AFP/Eyad BABA)

"Inappropriate" approach
When asked in the interview, Biden said that he did not believe that Israel was using starvation as a method of warfare. However, he described the actions in the Gaza Strip as "inappropriate" and emphasized that he had warned the Israeli side not to make the same mistake there as the USA had in past wars. "And I think they are making that mistake."

In opinion polls, most Israelis support the war against the radical Islamic Hamas. However, they hold the Netanyahu government partly responsible for security shortcomings during the surprise Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, which left around 1,200 people dead, kidnapped hostages and left numerous people raped and mutilated.

The Israeli military responded to the attack with a massive operation in the Gaza Strip, in which more than 36,500 people were killed and around 83,000 injured according to independently unverifiable Palestinian figures.