US President Biden says he urged Israeli Premier Netanyahu to avoid carpet-bombing Gaza

Outgoing US President Joe Biden said that some 15 months ago, he urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to avoid carpet-bombing civilians in Gaza.

"You can't be carpet-bombing these communities," Biden told Netanyahu during a conversation shortly after the Gaza war started in October 2023, according to the outgoing president.

In an interview with MSNBC late Thursday, Biden said that Netanyahu countered that during World War II, the US carpet-bombed Berlin and dropped a nuclear weapon.

"That's why we came up with the UN," Biden recalled responding.

"And he made a legitimate argument, his perspective, and said, 'Look, these are the guys that killed my people'," added Biden, who has been speaking to the press and giving speeches ahead of his leaving the White House on Monday.

Biden has been widely criticized for not applying more US pressure on Netanyahu to stop or curb Israel's deadly attacks on the Gaza Strip, which since October 2023 have killed nearly 47,000 people and injured over 110,000, most of them women and children.

Israel's attacks, which have left most of Gaza uninhabitable, have also frequently hit schools, mosques and churches, and hospitals.

"I do think he's in a position where, even now, it takes a lot of courage to take on that coalition he has, because they could vote him out of office tomorrow," Biden said of Netanyahu, who rules Israel with a slim majority from a coalition of parties.