US President Joe Biden said on Saturday that he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “doing more harm than good to Israel”, commenting on his approach to the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

In an interview he gave to the MSNBC network, the US president recognized the right of Israel to continue its operations against Hamas after the unprecedented attack it received on October 7. He emphasized, however, that Netanyahu “must pay more attention to the innocent lives that are being lost.” Biden said, among other things, that the death toll from Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip “is contrary to what Israel advocates.” “And I think it’s a big mistake,” he added.

Asked if a large-scale Israeli attack on Rafah was a “red line” for him, the US president answered in the affirmative. However, he was careful to clarify that he does not intend to stop deliveries of weapons systems to Israel. “There is no red line because of which I will stop arms deliveries so they don’t have the Iron Dome protecting them,” he said, referring to Israel’s anti-missile shield.