Day: January 15, 2024

President Biden’s patience with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is extremely close to “running out,’’ it was revealed Sunday — as Israel marked the 100th day of its war with Hamas. 

Despite Biden’s public support of Israel at the cost of political points at home, he is faced with “immense frustration” over the Israeli PM’s handling of the war — with tensions between the pair reaching a boiling point late last month, when Biden abruptly hung up the phone during a conversation with Netanyahu, sources told Axios. 

“This conversation is over!” Biden allegedly yelled at Netanyahu during the pair’s Dec. 23 call, which reportedly grew heated when the prime minister refused to release the Palestinian tax revenues being held by the Israeli government. 

The phone call marked the last conversation between the pair, who had spoken nearly every day since war broke out Oct. 7, the outlet said. 

“The situation sucks, and we are stuck — the president’s patience is running out,” a US official said. 

Another US official added, “There is immense frustration.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who the outlet said has been tight with Biden higher-ups over the war, said, “At every juncture, Netanyahu has given Biden the finger.

“They are pleading with the Netanyahu coalition but getting slapped in the face over and over again.”

The tension had been building over Netanyahu’s refusal to listen to other requests made by the Biden administration, including plans to discuss what post-war Gaza will look like, the sources added. 

Biden and his team have repeatedly pointed to a reformed Palestinian Authority as the best leadership for Gaza once Hamas is out of power, but Netanyahu has rejected such a proposal and insisted that Israel should oversee the demilitarization of the enclave. 

The US has also shown concern over the continued civilian casualties in Gaza that have caused political opposition to America’s support for Israel’s military. 

The deadly strike came on the 100th day of the war between Israel and Hamas. AP

An anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon hit and killed two Israeli citizens. AFP via Getty Images

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby appeared on CBS’s “Face The Nation” on Sunday and said there have been talks with Israel to move on to the next phase of the war that would scale down the fighting and airstrikes in southern gaza. 

“I’m not saying it’s perfect, and we’re certainly not walking away from the need to reduce civilian casualties,” Kirby said of the recent conversations with Israeli leaders. 

Kirby’s claims come as the war between Israel and Hamas has entered its100th day without any sign of slowing down or that the remaining 136 hostages believed to be held in Gaza would be freed. 

Israel declared war on the terror group after its brutal Oct. 7 attack that saw more than 1,200 people murdered in Israel and another 250 kidnapped, the deadliest in the history of the Jewish people since the Holocaust.  

After the slaughter, Israel launched an unrelenting wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip before its troops began a ground offensive to destroy Hamas and its military infrastructure. 

Hezbollah said that the group won’t stop fighting until a cease-fire is in place for Gaza. AP

The Israeli offensive has claimed more than 23,000 lives in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, which does not differentiate between civilians and terrorists. 

Combined with the deaths Oct. 7, the war has claimed an unprecedented amount of lives in the decades of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.   

The war has also forced nearly all of Gaza’s more than 2 million residents to evacuate their homes, about half of which have been damaged or destroyed by the conflict. 

The destruction and displacement has put shelters and hospitals on the brink of collapse as they struggle with dwindling supplies, with an estimated 576,600 Palestinians facing starvation. 

Although Israel claimed that it would scale down its presence in Gaza after decimating Hamas’ hold on northern Gaza, the fighting remains as intense as ever across the central and southern portions of the Palestinian enclave. 

In Khan Younis, southern Gaza’s largest city where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have sought refuge, the fighting has ramped up as the IDF seeks to locate Hamas’ top brass and the hostages who have now endured three months in captivity. 

On Sunday, the Kfir Brigade carried out raids in the city and seized a large weapons cache that included rifles, explosives, missile warheads, rockets and other military equipment belonging to the terror group and its elite Nukhba forces, the IDF said. 

The raids came days after Israeli troops discovered a Hamas tunnel system in the city where some of the hostages were being held in “difficult conditions.” 

The safety of the hostages remains among the top concerns for Israelis, with many of the hostages who were freed during the temporary cease-fire in November critical of their government’s response over the urgent issue. 

“We were abandoned by the state of Israel,” freed hostage Hagar Brodutch said during a rally in Tel Aviv on Sunday.  

Brodutch, who was in captivity for 51 days with her three children, was among many who have called on Israel to accept a deal that would see the remaining hostages freed from their nightmare as soon as possible, the Times of Israel reports.  

Israeli soldiers walk past houses destroyed by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Be’eri, Israel, Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023. AP

“They need their home now!” Brodutch yelled in the rally.

Meanwhile, with no sign of the conflict in Gaza ending anytime soon, Israel also has seen the chances of a two-front war growing as tensions Sunday continued to heat up along the northern border in Lebanon after a series of missile strikes by Hezbollah terrorists.

One of the strikes in the city of Kfar Yuval killed Miri Ayalon, 76, and her son Barak Ayalon, 45, a member of the Israel Defense Forces serving as a staff sergeant in the reserves and as part of the town’s security team.

Since Oct. 8, the IDF has reported five civilian deaths as a result of the skirmishes with Lebanon’s Hezbollah rebels, with another 10 soldiers and reservists killed in the conflicts. 

Along with Hezbollah, the fellow Iran-backed Houthis rebels have launched attacks in support of Hamas, with the terror group firing at ships in the Red Sea. 

Biden is said to feel “immense frustration” with Netanyahu’s handling of the war. REUTERS

US and UK officials have warned the Houthis rebels of “consequences” if they continue to conduct terror attacks in the region, with the Western allies allegedly unleashing a series of strikes against the group on Sunday. 

Al-Masirah TV, which is operated by the Iran-backed military group, reported the attack against Houthi rebels in Yemen’s war-torn Hodeida. 

It would mark the third day in a row that the Houthi group has been attacked over its aggression in the Red Sea.  US and UK officials have not commented on Sunday’s airstrikes.