U.S. President Joe Biden will convene the Security Council on Monday to discuss developments in the Middle East, the White House said, amid efforts by the international community to de-escalate tensions in the region and avert all-out war.
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Still, the U.S. is bolstering its military presence in the region, with more warships and aircraft.
Israel expects retaliatory waves of missiles and drones that will last several days
The United States is preparing "for any eventuality," White House deputy national security adviser John Finer said. "The Pentagon is strengthening forces in the region to prepare for an eventual need to defend Israel from an attack," he said, adding: "At the same time, we are trying to de-escalate the situation diplomatically because we do not believe that a regional war would be in anyone's interest at this time."
He reiterated the "urgency" of reaching a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.
Iran will deliberately strike Israeli citizens, Israeli media report, while the Jordanian foreign minister's first visit to Tehran in 20 years is described as indicative of the criticality "in a last-ditch de-escalation effort.
An Israeli official told NBC News that Israel expects waves of missiles and drones to last several days in response to the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr.
"They will try to exhaust us," the official said.
He described U.S. pressure for a ceasefire as almost unbearable.
"Biden wants this to be achieved during his term," he said.
At a time when the international factor is pressuring Netanyahu to close the Gaza front with an agreement, media reports speak of a verbal clash by phone between the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Israel. Netanyahu reportedly rejects accepting two points of the agreement in particular: the abolition of a ten-kilometer-long corridor that Israel built by dividing Gaza in two "so that Hamas fighters cannot move," and the withdrawal from the Philadelphia corridor on the border with Gaza.
The US president reportedly told the Israeli prime minister during a telephone conversation last Thursday: "Stop making fun of me."
The information was reported by Israel's Channel 12.
Israeli television did not cite sources, but said Biden's outburst followed Netanyahu's statement that Israel was moving forward with negotiations on a ceasefire agreement with Hamas and would soon send a delegation to resume talks.
At the end of Thursday's conversation, Biden also reportedly told Netanyahu: "Don't take the American president for granted."
Netanyahu's office responded to the Channel 12 report, saying the prime minister did not comment on the content of his private conversations with the US president. The statement stressed that the prime minister "does not interfere in American politics and will work with whoever is elected president and expects Americans also not to interfere in Israeli politics."
The New York Times conveys similar discomfort on Biden's part.
