Biden: I don’t know if Netanyahu is trying to sway US election

While the Biden administration has criticised Hamas for failing to reach an agreement, the president has also expressed increasing public frustration with Netanyahu, who he recently said was not doing enough to strike a deal.

Some US officials have reportedly assessed that Netanyahu does not believe a diplomatic agreement would be in his political interest, as members of his coalition would oppose it.

“Hamas is not there with a deal. There’s not a deal in the making, unfortunately,” the Israeli prime minister said earlier this month just hours after a US official said it was 90% complete.

The increasingly fractious relationship between Biden and Netanyahu, who have known one another for decades, contrasts with the friendly relationship the Israeli leader had with former president Donald Trump, the current Republican nominee.

Israel, meanwhile, has continued strikes on Gaza and pushed ahead with a ground invasion in southern Lebanon. It has also vowed to respond to an Iranian ballistic missile attack this week.

At his appearance at Friday’s press briefing, which came as a shock to the reporters in the room, Biden responded to concern that Israel could strike Iranian oil fields in retaliation.

“The Israelis have not concluded what they are going to do in terms of a strike,” he said. “If I were in their shoes, I’d be thinking about other alternatives than striking oil fields.”

Biden caused oil prices to rise on Thursday when he said the US was discussing with Israel the possibility of strikes on Iran’s oil infrastructure.