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US President Biden landed in Delaware on Friday evening (local time).
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Roberto Schmidt / AFP
US President Joe Biden has every reason to be frustrated by the attitude of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Ceasefire negotiations are making no progress and the number of civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip continues to rise.
Biden had hoped that Israel and Hamas would agree on a ceasefire before Ramadan.
Islamist and militant movements such as Hamas attribute special significance to the Muslim month of fasting in jihad, the so-called holy war.
The violence could escalate even further with the start of Ramadan.
A Hamas spokesman has already called on the Palestinian population to march to the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount during Ramadan.
In the West Bank, Palestinian militants attacked an illegal Israeli settlement near the city of Nablus on Friday.
Seven Israeli soldiers were injured.
Depending on the sighting of the crescent moon, Ramadan begins on Sunday evening.
An agreement on a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is still not in sight.
“It looks difficult,” was Biden’s response to the status of the negotiations on Friday (local time).
The United States, which is mediating in the negotiations along with Egypt and Qatar, blames Hamas's intransigent stance for the lack of an agreement.
It is also undisputed for the USA that Israel must change its approach in the Gaza Strip.
“Humanitarian aid must not be a secondary consideration or a means of pressure,” Joe Biden said in his State of the Union address on Thursday evening.
He rarely shows publicly how frustrated he is by the situation.
But now a microphone was still running when Biden spoke to Senator Michael Bennet from Colorado after his speech.
Bennet congratulated Biden on his speech.
He then asked him to urge Netanyahu to allow humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
Biden then responded using Netanyahu's nickname: "I told him: Bibi, you and me, we're going to have a 'Come to Jesus meeting'."
The term can also be heard from time to time in some German companies.
What this means is a meeting where everything is discussed.
Biden began his words to Bennet by telling him not to repeat them.
Apparently he wasn't aware that the microphone on his jacket was still on the entire time.
A presidential aide standing nearby pointed it out to him in a whisper.
Biden then says loudly: “Good.
That's good."
Biden confirmed his comments in response to questions from reporters on Friday.
Asked whether he thought Netanyahu should do more to alleviate humanitarian suffering, Biden replied: "Yes, he should."
vet/AP