John Kirby says the White House is ‘increasingly frustrated’ by Israel’s offensive in Gaza

National security spokesman John Kirby said the White House is “increasingly frustrated” by Israeli actions in Gaza.

During an appearance on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, co-host Martha Raddatz noted how President Biden and his Cabinet officials appear to have grown increasingly frustrated with Israel’s bloody offensive to root out Hamas.

“I’m glad you’re putting forward that timeline because it shows the extent… the growing level of frustration that we’ve had with the way these operations are being prosecuted and the way Israelis are acting on the ground in terms of civilian casualties ,” Kirby told Raddatz.

‘So we are becoming increasingly frustrated. And again, that was the core message that the president conveyed to Prime Minister Netanyahu during their phone call last week: that they have to do more, that they have to make changes,” he continued.

Biden has faced a backlash from progressives who say he is too supportive of Israel as civilian casualties pile up in Gaza. Criticism of Israel’s military campaign increased this week when an Israeli airstrike killed six World Central Kitchen workers, including an American, and their Palestinian driver as they left a warehouse in central Gaza.

The workers, who were delivering food aid in Gaza, were traveling in a “conflict-free zone” in armored, tagged cars that were hit by an Israeli missile.

On Friday, a group of more than 30 House Democrats, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, demanded that Biden halt arms transfers to Israel.

“In light of the recent strike against aid workers and the worsening humanitarian crisis, we believe that it is unjustified to authorize these arms transfers,” the letter said.

The Palestinian death toll since October has surpassed 33,000.

Last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., blasted Biden for paying only lip service to the Palestinian cause.

‘As you know, there have been many explanations. I mean, one day ‘I’m angry’, the president is angry with Netanyahu. The next day he is ‘very angry’ and the next day ‘very angry’. So?’ the Vermont progressive said of the White House response.

Palestinian elderly woman pushes a wheelchair past rubble in Khan Yunis on April 7, 2024 after Israel withdrew troops from the southern Gaza Strip, six months into the devastating war following the October 7 attacks

Palestinians use a road full of damaged and destroyed buildings in Khan Yunis on April 7, 2024

‘At the same time there is support for military aid. We’re talking about a $10 billion supplemental bill that I voted against for that reason,” Sanders continued.

The senator promised not to give Netanyahu another $10 billion in military aid to “continue killing women and children in Gaza.”

Sanders made the comments during a recording of the Pod Save America podcast released Friday.

“You can’t keep talking about your concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and then give Netanyahu another $10 billion or more in bombs. You can not do that. That’s hypocritical.’

Sanders said the president is not stupid and that he knows Biden is a “very decent human being” who is “hurt” by what is going on, but he could not say why the White House continued the policy of supporting of military aid.

The senator was responding to a question about whether he believes the Biden administration is shifting its position to support conditioning aid to Israel. The senator said he didn’t know.

On Thursday, Biden had an hour-long phone call with Netanyahu after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed seven aid workers earlier this week, including a clash with a U.S. citizen.

Biden “emphasized that the attacks on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable,” the White House said in a readout of the conversation.

“He made clear that Israel must announce and implement a series of specific, concrete and measurable steps to address harm to civilians, humanitarian suffering and the safety of aid workers. He made clear that U.S. policy toward Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps,” the lecture continued.

Biden faces increasing pressure at home and abroad to do more to ensure the safety of civilians in Gaza. He has also faced mounting political pressure as more Americans reject U.S. military support for Israel.

According to the latest Gallup poll data, support for Israel’s military action in Gaza has fallen dramatically since November, with the majority of Americans now opposing it.

55 percent disapprove of Israel’s actions, while only 36 percent approve.

Sanders was asked what his message is for those considering a third-party vote on Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza.

The senator said he is working “day and night” to turn around the Biden administration.

“I tell that young person: your gut feeling is right,” Sanders said. “I have Palestinian friends who worry every day about what will happen if their relatives have not already been killed. It’s terrible. But all I’m asking is: let’s not make a terrible situation worse.”