Biden's Post Sparks Confusion Over US Policy Shift Regarding Israel

US President Joe Biden posted on his X microblog about HAMAS and the war. According to the BBC's Russian service, global media and social networks are questioning what he meant.

The phrasing of the tweet has caused confusion on social media and in the global press, raising whether this indicates a change in US policy towards Israel or, for instance, is part of an election campaign.

The tweet, which was posted on Biden’s personal page rather than on the official X microblog of the US president, begins with a claim that HAMAS launched an attack on Israel on October 7 because it feared the most the peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

“Continuing down the path of terror, violence, killings, and war means giving HAMAS what it wants. We cannot do that,” Biden continued in his post.

BBC correspondent Tracy Beecham notes that the tone of this post is very different from official statements from Washington that support Israel's position that the war cannot end until HAMAS is either destroyed or at least expelled from Gaza.

“It’s unclear whether Biden, as he prepares for next year's elections, is addressing the more skeptical segment of his domestic audience that criticizes his administration for unconditional support for Israel,” Beecham said.

Al Jazeera's Washington correspondent Petty Culhane also points out that Biden has previously spoken about the Gaza war in a completely different tone. “And now, if you really look at this statement, he says, ‘HAMAS wants war, we cannot allow that.’ Does he mean that the war should stop?” questioned the Al Jazeera correspondent, concluding that Biden's statement seems to signal a change in policy but also raises many questions.