Biden calls Israeli response in Gaza 'over the top'

President Biden criticized Israel's response in the Gaza Strip on Thursday as “overblown” as he defended US efforts to broker a ceasefire and increase the amount of humanitarian aid reaching the area.

In comments overshadowed by questions about his memory and by incorrectly referring to Egypt's president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, instead as the president of Mexico, Mr Biden appeared to describe Israel's war in Gaza as disproportionate .

“A lot of innocent people are starving, in trouble and dying,” he said at a news conference at the White House, where he answered questions about his age and memory. “And it has to stop.”

Israel signaled this week that its army is preparing to enter Rafah, an area on the southern side of Gaza where hundreds of thousands of civilians fleeing the violence have been locked up. More than 27,000 people have been killed in Gaza in four months. war, and most people face hunger and disease in addition to the constant air raids.

The president has previously been critical of Israel's actions in Gaza, saying in December that the country was engaged in “indiscriminate bombing” as the United States and other allies pushed for more targeted approaches to limit civilian deaths. He said at the time that Israel's conduct in the war was eroding international support for its position in the conflict.

These comments, at a fundraiser in Washington, also included assessments of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the leader of “the most conservative government in Israel's history,” showing growing divisions between Israel and its strongest ally.

That divide over a way out of the war was on full display this week when Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken traveled to the Middle East to push for a ceasefire.

The Israeli prime minister anticipated a joint news conference that would have been customary after his meeting with Mr. Blinken and instead met with reporters on his own to criticize the proposal that the Americans saw as a potential opening for a solution.