Israel IGNORES Biden’s criticism and vows to continue Hamas attacks without world support: Netanyahu uses ‘friend’ Joe’s stunning rebuke as a rallying cry as White House pressures Tel Aviv on ‘timeline’ of the war

Israel has ignored Joe Biden’s criticism of the bombing of the Gaza Strip, vowing that the war against Hamas will continue no matter what, and rejecting one of the US president’s key demands for the Palestinian Authority.

“Israel will continue its war against Hamas with or without international support,” Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said.

His double decline came after Biden delivered a stunning rebuke of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warning that Israel was losing support around the world and his conservative government must “change.”

Netanyahu had his own response: He used Biden’s criticism to rally the right in Israel, rejecting Biden’s call for a revived Palestinian Authority in the West Bank to take over governance of Gaza after the war.

He vowed that he would “not allow Israel to repeat the Oslo mistake,” referring to the 1993 Oslo Accords, which were supposed to allow limited Palestinian self-rule. The country’s right-wing conservatives hate this agreement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used Biden’s criticism to rally the right in Israel

The Israeli Prime Minister also made it clear that he would keep Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip indefinitely.

Biden has supported Israel since the Oct. 7 surprise attack by Hamas forces that killed 1,200 people. But his words of caution, delivered behind closed doors at a political fundraiser Tuesday, were his strongest echo of concerns about the collateral damage from Israel’s military attack on Hamas: more than 18,000 Gazans killed and a massive humanitarian crisis in the West Bank.

“They’re starting to lose that support because of the indiscriminate bombing that’s going on,” Biden said of Israel.

But Israel rejects any idea of ​​a reduction in forces or a ceasefire.

“The truce at this stage is a gift to the terrorist organization Hamas and will allow it to return and threaten the people of Israel,” Cohen said.

Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan will travel to Israel on Thursday to meet with Netanyahu to discuss how long the fighting will continue.

“I will definitely talk to Prime Minister Netanyahu, the military cabinet and senior Israeli national security officials about the timeline and what they think about it,” Sullivan said at a Wall Street Journal forum on Tuesday.

But he did not say whether he would talk about pressuring Israeli officials to scale back the military campaign.

The US is beginning to feel isolated when it comes to unabashed support for Israel.

On Friday, the UN Security Council adopted a ceasefire resolution, which was immediately vetoed by the United States. But on Tuesday, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly backed a non-binding measure of the same proposal.

President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv in October.

Biden sends national security adviser Jake Sullivan to Israel

Meanwhile, Netanyahu categorically rejected American plans for the future of the region.

He ruled out any role for the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip, which Washington wants to see, which would create a rift between the allies.

“There is disagreement about the ‘day after Hamas,’” Netanyahu said in a video message posted on social media, “and I hope that we will reach agreement here as well.”

“After the great sacrifices of our civilians and our soldiers, I will not allow those who teach terrorism, support terrorism and finance terrorism to enter Gaza,” Netanyahu said. “Gaza will be neither Hamastan nor Fatakhstan.”

Sullivan said he would talk with Netanyahu and other officials about plans for the region after the war.

“We have made it clear that we believe the reoccupation of Gaza is a bad idea,” he said.

“This shouldn’t happen. We believe that the Israeli government ultimately understands this too. We also believe that some kind of interim security agreement will be necessary as we work towards a long-term political solution for both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.”

Biden has pushed for a two-state solution in the area.

Israel has taken tough retaliatory measures against Hamas after the terrorist group’s attack on October 7. But many countries have expressed concern about the number of Palestinian civilians killed by Israel’s bombing of the Gaza Strip.

Since the war began, nearly 16,000 Palestinians have been killed and most of Gazan’s 2.3 million residents have been forced from their homes.

The damage was also significant. Some 40,000 buildings have been damaged or destroyed in the Gaza Strip, or about 18% of all structures that existed before the conflict, according to a UN estimate released Tuesday.

With little aid flowing into Gaza, Palestinians face severe food shortages, as well as shortages of water and other essential goods. Some fear that Palestinians will be driven out of the territory altogether.

Since the start of the war, about 1,300 people have died on the Israeli side. Israel says Hamas still has 117 hostages and the remains of 20 people killed in captivity or during the first attack.