Netanyahu: Biden is wrong in criticizing Israel's war policy

(Patria) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday rejected US President Joe Biden's criticism that Israel's approach to the war in Gaza "is hurting more than helping Israel".

- If he meant by that that I am pursuing a private policy against the will of the majority of Israelis and that it is harming Israel's interests, then he is wrong on both counts - Netanyahu stated in an interview with Politico, reports RSE.

Biden said on Saturday that Netanyahu "has to pay more attention to the innocent lives lost as a result of the actions taken" in the Gaza Strip.

The US President, who has supported Israel during the five-month war with Hamas, but whose frustration with Netanyahu is increasingly visible, made his criticisms in an interview with MSNBC.

Netanyahu's failure to bring home hostages still held by Hamas has led to regular protests in Israel and calls for early elections, including again in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening.

Netanyahu told Politico that his policy "is supported by the vast majority of Israelis", who support "the action we are taking to destroy the remaining Hamas terrorist battalions".

He added that Israelis say that when Hamas is destroyed, the Palestinian Authority should not be put in power in the Gaza Strip, which he stated "educates children towards terrorism and pays for terrorism".

Netanyahu has faced global condemnation for rejecting the two-state solution, according to which a Palestinian state would exist alongside Israel, but has defied the US, which provides Israel with billions of dollars in military aid.

At least 31,045 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry of the Hamas-controlled territory.

In Hamas's attack on southern Israel, 1,200 people were killed and 253 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli data.