Biden and Netanyahu once again break down over Haniyeh’s murder

▲ Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu (left) and US President Biden [연합뉴스]There have been reports that US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are fighting again over the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the main leader of the Palestinian military political group Hamas.

On the 3rd (local time), the New York Times (NYT), citing US officials, reported that President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu had a heated argument on the phone on the 1st, the a day after Haniyeh’s murder.

In this phone call, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that the murder of Haniyeh would help to reach a ceasefire agreement.

It is argued that while Haniyeh’s death halted fire talks for a few days, it would eventually put more pressure on Hamas and speed up the conclusion of the ceasefire agreement.

On the other hand, President Biden said that Haniyeh’s assassination could undermine efforts to conclude a ceasefire negotiation.

He is known to have denied that the timing was inappropriate, saying that Haniyeh was assassinated during the final phase of ceasefire negotiations.

In addition, US officials expressed concern that the war could spread to a wider area as the operation to assassinate Haniyeh was underway in Tehran, the capital of Iran.

According to both governments, Israel reportedly did not notify the United States of the operation to assassinate Haniyeh.

The rift between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu is deepening as the war in Gaza continues for almost 10 months.

In particular, gaps were revealed around the recess.

President Biden’s position is that a cease-fire agreement must be reached as soon as possible based on a mediation plan led by the United States, but Prime Minister Netanyahu called for a review of his ‘mediation plan, proposing conditions such as the release of Palestinian prisoners and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.

This issue was also discussed during President Biden’s meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu on the 25th of last month, and it is known that the two countries held a meeting afterwards to resolve their differences. to narrow over several days.

However, Israel embarrassed the United States by carrying out an airstrike on Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, on the 30th of last month, killing Faud Shukur, a close associate of the leader of the armed political group Hezbollah. , and murdering Haniyeh in Tehran the next day.