Biden tells Netanyahu that time is running out for US support for Israel's counter-offensive

President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Jan. 19 that he would not support Israel's counteroffensive for a year, Axios reported Friday.

Biden told Netanyahu during a phone call that Israel must quickly begin limiting the scope of its counteroffensive against Hamas and expressed confusion about the country's plans for a postwar Gaza, according to two U.S. officials. he said axes Recently, the relationship between Biden and Netanyahu has increased casting as the two disagree on several issues related to Israel's current and planned operations in Gaza.

The White House is reportedly concerned that the war between Israel and Hamas will dominate the news cycle ahead of the US election in November, a Biden adviser told Axios. The pressure has grown up from Biden's young voting bloc to call for a ceasefire and an end to the war.

Biden and Netanyahu spent nearly an hour on January 19 discussing the timetable for Israel to begin curbing its counteroffensive, a US official told Axios. Netanyahu previously said the counteroffensive would take “many, many months,” which Biden addressed during their phone call.

Netanyahu told Biden that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have scaled back operations in northern Gaza but need more time than expected to do so in the southern region, officials told Axios. He added that Hamas would regain control of the region if the IDF ceased its operations.

The two world leaders also discussed the issue of getting roughly 130 hostages to Hamas control outside Gaza, a source with inside knowledge of the call told Axios. Israel more recently offered Hamas a two-month ceasefire in exchange for the remaining hostages, but Hamas' view of the offer appears unclear.

CIA Director Bill Burns will meet next week with negotiators from Qatar and Egypt to discuss a plan to release the hostages, according to Axios. Biden's special adviser on the Middle East, Brett McGurk, held similar talks in Qatar and Egypt this week.

Biden has said he has historically had one complicated relationship with Netanyahu, but has recently become more problematic amid disagreements over Israel's current affairs, seconds to Reuters. Biden hung up abruptly phone on Netanyahu in December after telling him “the conversation is over” amid disagreements.

Biden recently remembered a story during a speech in December in which he effectively told Netanyahu that he disagreed “with a damn thing” he had to say.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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