American President Joe Biden has said people have “every reason” to believe that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is dragging out the war in Gaza for political reasons.

In an interview with Time magazine Biden was asked if Netanyahu is prolonging the war for his own political reasons and replied: “There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion.”

Netanyahu has faced increasing pressure from far-right coalition members in his government since he authorized a hostage deal proposal brokered by the US.

The Israeli Prime Minister has been trying to avoid conflict with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who have called for permanently occupying Gaza and re-establishing Israeli settlements there.

Biden and his administration as well as moderates in the Israeli war cabinet have encouraged Israel to plan for the day after the war since the start.

When asked about America’s relationship with Saudi Arabia he said the US has two kinds of alliances: “There are values-based, and there are practical-based” adding that a normalisation deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia would be “overwhelmingly in our interest.”

Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad told Time it launched its attack due to Israel making peace with other Arab states. 

He said: “We planned for this because Israel thinks it can make peace with anyone, it can make normalization with any country, it can oppress the Palestinians, so we decided to shock the Israelis in order to wake up others.”

On the topic of hostages still held in Gaza Biden said, “We believe there are those that are still alive.”

“I met with all the families. But we don’t have final proof on exactly who’s alive.”

He would not be drawn on the question of war crimes and when asked if Israel had committed war crimes in Gaza, Biden said: “It’s uncertain.”