Biden frustrated Netanyahu ordered assassinations after feigning commitment to Gaza deal in DC — Axios

US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call last night amid an expected retaliation from Iran and its proxies in the region for the recent assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders was “tough,” according to US officials quoted by the Axios news site.

Biden himself described the conversation with Netanyahu yesterday as “very direct.”

According to the Axios report, the Biden administration is frustrated that it was kept in the dark by Israel about the assassination plans after Netanyahu gave the impression in Washington last week that he was taking on board the president’s ardor to close a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza.

The US officials are quoted as saying that although Washington is committed to helping Israel repel an Iranian attack, Biden warned Netanyahu that after this he doesn’t want to see further escalation.

The report adds that at the end of the two leaders’ meeting in Washington last week, Biden had “raised his voice and said he wants a deal reached within a week to two weeks.”

Israel is on high alert as the country braces for a response to the assassinations of Hezbollah’s military chief Fuad Shukr in Beirut on Tuesday and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday in Tehran. The IDF has pledged that the military knows how to handle any threat.

While the IDF has claimed responsibility for killing Shukr, Israel has not officially commented on the assassination of Haniyeh, which Hamas, Iran and their allies have blamed on the Jewish state.