A day after President Biden claimed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “hurts Israel more than he helps Israel,” Mr. Netanyahu dismissed that claim as a “mistake,” escalating the leaders’ increasingly public feud.
Mr. Netanyahu, in an interview with Politico scheduled to air Sunday night, disputed Mr. Biden’s assessment of Israel’s military strategy in the Gaza Strip, saying his policies represented the “vast majority” of Israelis. .
“I don’t know exactly what the president meant, but if he meant by that that I am pursuing private policies against the majority, the desire of the majority of Israelis, and that this harms Israel’s interests, then he is wrong on both counts,” said Mr. .Netanyahu in Politico. An excerpt from the interview was released by the prime minister’s office.
The Israeli leader responded to Mr. Biden’s comments on Saturday in an interview with MSNBC that was also scheduled to air on Sunday night. Mr. Biden rebuked Mr. Netanyahu for the rising civilian death toll in Gaza, even as he reaffirmed American support for Israel.
“He has the right to defend Israel, the right to continue to go after Hamas, but he has to, he has to, he has to pay more attention to the innocent lives that are being lost as a consequence of the actions that were taken,” Mr. Biden said.
“In my view, it hurts Israel more than it helps Israel,” Mr. Biden said, appearing to refer to Mr. Netanyahu’s military strategy. “It’s against what Israel stands for and I think it’s a big mistake. So I want to see a ceasefire.”
The fight comes amid a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with the United Nations and aid agencies warning of imminent famine in the besieged enclave of 2.2 million. Health officials in Gaza said at least 25 people, mostly children, had died of malnutrition and dehydration in recent days.
On Sunday, the said the US military that an Army vessel, the Gen. Frank S. Besson, had sailed a day earlier from a base near Norfolk, Va., and was carrying equipment to build a floating jetty off the coast of Gaza to allow aid deliveries. “The Besson, a logistics support vessel, is carrying the first equipment to establish a temporary jetty for the delivery of vital humanitarian supplies,” the military said.
But the Pentagon said the project could take weeks to complete.
Nearly 60,000 pregnant women in the enclave are malnourished, dehydrated and lack proper health care, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which said about 5,000 women were giving birth each month in “harsh, unsafe and unsanitary conditions as a result of shelling and displacement.” .”
The Biden administration’s pier and path plan, announced last week, could eventually help deliver up to two million meals a day to Gazans.
Some humanitarian officials have criticized the approach, saying that delivering aid by truck is far more effective. US officials acknowledge that sea deliveries — as well as airdrops — are not as effective as land deliveries, but Israel has greatly restricted the flow of aid into Gaza.
The Pentagon said that one of the main military units involved in the construction of the floating pier will be the Army’s Seventh Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), and that about 1,000 US troops will work to complete it.
The Israeli military will help coordinate the installation of the jetty, Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Saturday. The shipments will be inspected by Israeli troops before being handed over to aid groups that will distribute the supplies, he said.
The start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan usually brings a period of religious devotion, dawn-to-dusk fasting, family gatherings and nightly celebrations. But in Gaza, now in its sixth month of war, all that seems a long way off. The Israeli offensive, which Gaza’s health ministry says has killed an estimated 31,000 Palestinians, began in October after a Hamas attack on Israel that killed an estimated 1,200 people.
In a more peaceful time, the streets of Gaza’s cities would be lined with families buying Ramadan decorations and supplies – colorful lamps, food and sweets – and preparing for days of fasting, evenings of family meals and nights of prayer at mosques.
“I remember the month’s festivities walking through the streets of the market, with shouts and praise everywhere,” said Ahmad Shbat, a 24-year-old street vendor. “Everything was available and the mosques played a vital role.”
Muslims can opt out of the fast for many reasons, and some in Gaza said the hardships of war would make it difficult to observe daily fasts. Others say that with starvation threatened, most eat only one meal a day anyway, and that fasting will be no different than the hunger they have endured for months.
People are so hungry that some have resorted to eating leaves and fodder. Many in Gaza live on little more than a native wild plant known as Egyptian mallow, commonly eaten by Palestinians.
Mr Shbat, who was displaced from his home and now lives in a school in Jabaliya, northern Gaza, said Ramadan this year “will not be pleasant, especially because we will be away from our homes and loved ones”.
“Although it is the month of blessings, it is particularly difficult this year,” he said. “The war is still raging and there is no meaning to the month without gathering around the table with the family.”
The report was made by Gabby Sobelman, Himba Yazbek, Amera Harouda, Cassandra Winograd, Helen Cooper, Gaya Gupta and Aaron Boxerman.
