Biden: Netanyahu Intentionally Prolonging War

President Joe Biden said "there is every reason for people" to conclude that Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is prolonging the war in Gaza for political reasons.

Biden made the comment in a wide-ranging interview with Time Magazine published Tuesday.

It also comes amid a truce and hostage release deal, proposed by Biden on Friday, that is being mulled by Israel and negotiators with Hamas, the terrorist group that instigated the war with its massacre of more than 1,200 Israelis, mostly citizens, beginning Oct. 7.

While Biden demurred when asked by Time if Netanyahu was the only holdout to accepting the truce, he let it fly when asked if Netanyahu had political reasons for extending the war.

"There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion," Biden said.

Also, Biden told Time "it's uncertain" if Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza after he unequivocally shot down the notion in the past. Biden dismissed the International Criminal Court's decision to pursue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as "outrageous" on May 20; the ICC is accusing Israel of war crimes.

In announcing his truce plan Friday, Biden said Israel has sufficiently depleted Hamas' forces, saying the terrorists are "no longer capable" of carrying out another Oct. 7-style attack. Israel said it has killed 15,000 terrorists, about half of Hamas' fighting force.

Biden put forth a plan for the release of the remaining 85 hostages and the bodies of 40 more for an extended cease-fire, again boxing America's ally into a corner; Israeli citizens demanding he take the deal are on one side, and threats from two ministers to leave the government, a move that would cripple the majority in Netanyahu's coalition, on the other.

"Israel's conditions for ending the war have not changed: the destruction of Hamas' military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel," Netanyahu said Saturday.

Netanyahu reportedly will to deliver a joint address to Congress on June 13. However, the leaders will not meet; Biden is set to be in Italy for a G7 summit.