Biden ups the ante with Iran and insists he did NOT ‘demand’ Israel delay ground invasion: Warns Ayatollah to ‘be prepared’ if war spreads as he condemns ‘extremist’ settlers and casts doubt on Palestinian death tolls

President Joe Biden on Wednesday issued a stark new warning to Iran to be “prepared” for a response if the Middle East conflict escalates. He condemned extremist settlers who attacked Palestinians and questioned Hamas’s death toll.

Biden spoke mainly about the conflict between Israel and Hamas during a news conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and he raised concerns that Iran-linked groups could attack US troops in the region as part of retaliation.

“My warning to the ayatollah was that if they continue to turn against those forces, we will respond. And he must be prepared. Nothing to do with Israel,” he said.

The president defended Israel’s right to respond to the October 7 terrorist attacks on his people, but also issued a rare rebuke to Israeli settlers in the West Bank, reiterating calls for a two-state solution for Palestinians and Israelis once it current conflict is over.

“Israel must do everything in its power, no matter how difficult it is, to protect innocent civilians,” Biden said at the Rose Garden news conference.

He pointed out that “Hamas does not represent the vast majority of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip or anywhere else. Hamas is hiding behind Palestinian civilians and it is despicable and not surprisingly cowardly.”

In his remarks, he offered a full defense of Israel.

“Israel has the right, and I would add the responsibility, to respond to the slaughter of its people. And we will ensure that Israel has everything it needs to defend itself against these terrorists; that’s a guarantee.’

And he condemned the brutality of the Hamas attack that killed 1,400 Israelis, sparking a two-week war that shows no signs of abating.

He said he believed Hamas was driven in part by a desire to undo U.S.-led efforts to normalize Israeli relations with some of its Arab neighbors, including Saudi Arabia.

“I am convinced that part of the reason why Hamas attacked when they did, I have no evidence for that. It’s May instinct. It was because of the progress we have made toward regional integration with Israel,” he noted.

The president also said that after the Israeli-Hamas conflict comes to an end, Israelis, Palestinians and their partners should work toward a two-state solution.

“Israelis and Palestinians equally deserve to live side by side in safety, dignity and peace,” Biden said.

Al-Jazeera correspondent Wael Al-Dahdouh mourns the body of one of his children who was killed along with his wife and daughter during an Israeli attack in the Nuseirat camp, at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al- Balah in the southern Gaza Strip

Palestinians carry injured women found on the streets after Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City

But he also spoke out against retaliatory attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank, calling it “throwing gasoline on the fire.”

“I remain concerned about extremist settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank and pouring gasoline on the fire. This was an agreement. The deal is made and they are attacking the Palestinians in places where they have a right to be. It has to stop. And it has to stop now.”

Biden also said he had “no confidence” in Hamas’s claims about the number of civilians killed in Gaza in the past two weeks. The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said more than 6,500 people had been killed by Israeli airstrikes since October 7, a number that could not be independently verified.

‘I have no idea whether the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people have died. I am sure that innocents have been killed and that this is the price of waging war,” he said, adding: “I have no confidence in the numbers the Palestinians are using.”