US President Joe Biden and his top advisers warned Israel in recent private conversations that growing global outcry over a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza will have “dire strategic consequences” for the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) operations against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave, according to CNN.
The US broadcaster cited unnamed sources as saying that the clock is ticking for Israel to accomplish its goal of rooting out Hamas before global uproar over the humanitarian suffering and civilian casualties in Gaza reaches a tipping point.
The sources claimed that some of Biden’s close advisers believe that “there are only weeks, not months, until rebuffing the pressure on the US government to publicly call for a ceasefire becomes untenable.”
The insiders added that POTUS and his national security team were especially alarmed about deadly Israeli airstrikes that destroyed a refugee camp in northern Gaza, something that Biden “didn’t like this at all.”
“The problem for [Israel] is that the criticism is getting louder, not just among their detractors, but from their best friends,” one of the sources pointed out.
According to the insiders, Biden has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the images of Palestinian women and children being pulled from rubble may narrow the IDF’s ability to go ahead with its current operation, and that Israel will be judged harshly by the international community if it doesn’t take steps to minimize civilian deaths in Gaza.
The IDF kicked off Military Operation Iron Swords shortly after the October 7 surprise large-scale Hamas ambush on Israel from the Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, 8,805 Palestinians have been killed since 7 October, including at least 3,648 children and 2,187 women. The Jewish state’s death toll in the wake of escalation of the Palestine-Israel conflict stands at more than 1,400.
In a separate development this week, the latest Gallup poll found that Biden’s rating among his fellow Democratic Party members had fallen 11 percentage points since last month to 75%, the lowest level throughout his presidency, while his overall approval slipped back to the record low of 37%.
The 46th US president's rating has also declined among independents — to 35% from 39% — and remained the same among the Republicans at 5%.