President Biden’s push Thursday in a telephone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for an immediate cease-fire in the Jewish state’s six-month war campaign to defeat the terrorist movement Hamas in Gaza unleashed fierce criticism from Israeli experts.

‘A ceasefire now would be a victory to Hamas. It would show the terrorist organization that terrorism pays. The world needs to remain aligned behind Israel in its campaign to further weaken Hamas,’ Yaakov Katz, a senior fellow at the Jerusalem based Jewish People Institute told Fox News Digital.

In a White House readout of Biden’s call with Netanyahu it was noted that the president ‘underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the Prime Minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home.’

The statement also touched on Iran, noting, ‘The two leaders also discussed public Iranian threats against Israel and the Israeli people. President Biden made clear that the United States strongly supports Israel in the face of those threats.’

A spokeswoman for the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office sent Fox News Digital a statement from Netanyahu’s cabinet meeting on Thursday. ‘The Cabinet authorized the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, and Minister [Benny] Gantz to take immediate steps to increase humanitarian aid to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.’ The statement added, ‘This increased aid will prevent a humanitarian crisis and is necessary to ensure the continuation of the fighting and to achieve the goals of the war.’

Hamas invaded Israel on October 7 and massacred 1,200 people, including over 30 Americans. The terrorist organization Hamas is currently holding over 100 hostages in the Gaza Strip. Hamas’ remaining battalions are centered in Rafah, the last major holdout for the Sunni terrorist group in Gaza.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s remark on Thursday sparked outrage among many Israelis. He seemed to compare Israel to the U.S.-sanctioned terrorist entity Hamas in the context of Israel allegedly failing to protect civilians in Gaza.

Hamas has used civilians in its wars, including the current conflict, as human shields to blur the distinction between terrorists and civilians. Blinken said, ‘It’s what distinguishes us from terrorists like Hamas. If we lose that reverence for human life, we risk becoming indistinguishable from those we confront.’

‘Blinken’s comparison of Israel to Hamas was cruel, abusive and slanderous. It bespeaks a profound hostility to the state of Israel of a kind we’ve never seen from the United States,’ said Caroline Glick, former adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Fox News Digital. 

She continued, ‘The implication is obvious. The Biden administration is siding with Hamas against Israel and projecting Hamas’s crimes against the Jewish state onto Israel.’

Katz, the former editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, also told Fox News Digital, ‘Israel has been fighting this war in a way that is unprecedented in modern warfare. It has achieved a civilian-combatant ratio that has never been seen before in urban warfare and takes enormous measures to avoid civilian casualties. Unfortunately, mistakes and tragedies in war happen, but Israel is not Hamas. It is the exact opposite. Its military aims not to hit civilians, while Hamas aims to hit civilians.’

For Israelis who are on the front lines of a new Hamas attack, the safety of Israelis should not be contingent on American elections, and the parallel to Hamas uttered by Blinken is disturbing.  Biden has been accused of seeking to woo Arab-American voters in Michigan at the expense of securing the release of American hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and the security of Israel.

Talia Golijov, an American-Israeli resident of a kibbutz on the border to Gaza, told Fox News Digital, ‘From the outset I’ve thought that ‘total victory’ is a vague and unachievable goal, and that the primary objective should be the return of the hostages, and I would want to see that as soon as possible. Without minimizing the tragedy and scope of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, the pressure and double standards put on Israel for its conduct of the war has become intolerable. It is inconceivable that the IDF would ever behave like, or become indistinguishable from, a terrorist organization.’ 

She continued, ‘The change in Biden’s policy comes as much as a result of an immediate high-profile mistake as it does from the impending elections. His polling numbers shouldn’t be a determining factor in how Israel proceeds with the war and secures its future.’

Golijov added, ‘With all due respect, and thanks to the administration for its support until now, Israel has always maintained a mantra that at the end of the day, it’s up to us to defend ourselves. So, now it’s time for Netanyahu to live up to this.’

There are dissenting voices who wish to see Israel bring its prosecution of the war to a close. Yossi Melman, a veteran Israeli columnist for the left-leaning Haaretz, told Fox News Digital, ‘I think the war should be stopped. It is the moral obligation of Israel to get the hostages released.’

Melman is a leading expert on Israel’s intelligence and defense establishment. He said, ‘Once there is a ceasefire in Gaza, there will be a ceasefire in Lebanon. I believe the Houthis will stop targeting Israel, and there will be calm in the region.’ He noted that ‘Israel accelerated humanitarian aid’ in response to Biden’s demands.

He believes that Netanyahu’s ‘talk about complete victory is rubbish.’ Melman sees a long-term cease-fire ‘only when an international military force would move in to stabilize the situation.’ 

He continued that instead of bringing Hamas to power, what’s needed is ‘an international force or Arab force led by the Palestinian Authority.’

Melman said, ‘It does not matter if there is double standard. That is the reality. Whether we like it or not. I don’t like it. We are inches from a European Union arms embargo … Israel does not have an alternative to the U.S. And there is no alternative to Biden. Trump is worse. Trump said there should be cease-fire. Biden is the last fully pro-Israel president. Israel is losing America.’

After Biden and Blinken voiced their criticism of Israel, the Jewish state’s Minister for Diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, Amichai Chikli, posted a picture showing former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who infamously appeased and misread Hitler’s plans for European conquest, on X, stating: ‘Being weak towards your enemies and harsh towards your allies is a strategy that has never proven itself.’

Yishai Fleisher, who previously served as an adviser to Israel’s controversial Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, told Fox News Digital, ‘Elements of the U.S. administration are working to have us lose this war to Hamas through, basically, getting us to stop fighting and through the use of a new kind of human shield, which is aid workers, and flooding the place with food and making sure that nobody moves. The Biden administration is ensuring that the terrorists will not be rooted out and Hamas is going to be able to declare victory. We are seeing an effort to help Hamas win the conflict.’

Fleisher, who is director for International affairs for the Jewish community of Hebron, added that Hamas ‘will certainly come out and say, ‘Look we were able to rout the Israelis, and we were able to do horrible things to them, and we were able to ethnically cleanse them, and they were not able to defeat us, because we were able to marshal the international community.’ He continued, ‘The next step is total Hamas victory and therefore victory for global Jihad against Israel and a limited defeat for Israel, which is going to be hurtful, and give tailwind to the Jihad against Israel and global Jihad.’

Members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus and their allies are drawing lines in the sand ahead of what’s expected to be an intense inter-GOP battle over additional aid for Ukraine. 

The House of Representatives is expected to take up the issue of Ukraine and supplemental foreign aid the week after next, three sources told Fox News Digital. 

Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good, R-Va., called for any funding to Ukraine to be balanced out by spending cuts elsewhere and for it to be paired with U.S. border policy changes.

‘We cannot continue to borrow and spend money we don’t have for wars overseas while failing to protect Americans from the Biden border invasion here at home,’ Good told Fox News Digital earlier this week. ‘At a bare minimum, any package for military aid to Ukraine should be fully offset and must include H.R. 2 with performance metrics to secure our own border.’

The position has since been echoed by other members of the House GOP’s right flank. Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., told Fox News Digital on Friday, ‘Any lethal military assistance to Ukraine that fails to meet these critical requirements is a total nonstarter.’

‘House Republicans were tasked with getting our country back on track — starting with cutting spending and securing the southern border,’ Clyde explained. ‘Abandoning these priorities while advancing a pricey package to defend Ukraine’s borders would represent an utter betrayal of the American people.’

And former Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital, ‘We stand with Ukraine. Our priority, however, must be America… Our debt is $35 trillion next month; any foreign aid package must be heavily scrutinized.’

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., similarly said on ‘Mornings With Maria’ this week, ‘Now, if there are no offsets, if there are not concessions made to pay for this, more borrowing is not the answer. And that’s where [Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.] is going to have to step up, use the leverage he has as speaker, to get concessions.’

And while the two concessions outlined by Good are likely not going to sway the most hard-line critics into supporting Ukraine aid, it’s a signal that they might not throw up many significant roadblocks or threaten Johnson’s gavel over its passage.

Freedom Caucus members and their allies have in the past forced House leadership to bypass regular procedural hurdles to put bills on the floor under suspension of the rules, in exchange for raising the threshold for passage to two-thirds rather than a simple majority. 

The issue has driven a wedge within the House Republican Conference, with a growing number of GOP lawmakers skeptical of the U.S.’ continued support for Ukraine as it continues to fight off Russia’s invasion. 

Johnson has floated multiple proposals this week that appear to be aimed at easing concerns from the right wing of his conference. He’s suggested aiding Ukraine in the form of a loan, a plan the speaker said is supported by former President Donald Trump, as well as weakening Russia’s energy-dominated economy by forcing the Biden administration to reverse a pause on liquefied natural gas (LNG) export permits.

Johnson also floated getting some of the funding by liquefying seized Russian assets, a bipartisan plan introduced in the House and Senate last year.

But those proposals got a lukewarm reception at best from Ukraine funding skeptics.

‘I don’t think the conservatives would consider it enough without border security,’ one senior House GOP aide told Fox News Digital.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., wrote on X earlier this week, ‘There’s talk of ‘loaning’ the money & equipment to Ukraine. OK, why not loan the aid to Israel & Taiwan as well? Because they actually have the means to pay back the loan, that’s why. It’s a farce.’

Former First Lady Melania Trump is finally getting back on the campaign trail, according to reports.

Melania, wife of former President Donald Trump, will reportedly be attending a fundraiser for the Log Cabin Republicans later this month, multiple publications have reported.

The group is the most prominent pro-LGBT Republican advocacy group in the country. It would be Melania’s first public fundraising event in months. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Log Cabin Republicans and representatives for the Trump campaign for confirmation but did not receive a response.

The Log Cabin Republicans’ event will roll out the group’s ‘Road to Victory’ — a voter-targeting program planned for swing states. 

Melania made her first public appearance of the 2024 election cycle last month when she briefly joined her husband to cast votes in Florida.

The pair were photographed outside the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center in Palm Beach before casting their votes in the sunshine state’s Republican primary election.

Reporters pressed Melania for information on her role in her husband’s 2024 campaign, to which she responded, ‘Stay tuned.’

Trump has previously expressed hesitancy to involve his family in his re-election campaign, citing the mental and emotional toll his first campaign and presidency brought.

‘It’s funny, she was a very successful model, very, very successful, and yet she was a private person. She’s going to be out a lot. Not because she likes doing it, but she likes the results,’ he said during the interview. ‘She wants to see this country really succeed. She loves the country.’

Melania Trump has been largely absent from public life since the passing of her mother, Amalija Knavs, in January of this year.

Big-money donors are beginning to coalesce around former President Donald Trump after he has become the presumptive GOP nominee as he attempts to close the cash-on-hand gap with President Biden, who recently set a high-dollar fundraising record.

This weekend in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump will take part in what is being billed as an ‘Inaugural Leadership Dinner’ that includes several Republican high-profile donors and signals the beginning of a major push to cut into Biden’s cash-on-hand lead.  

The event will be led by hedge-fund billionaire John Paulson and will be co-chaired by hedge fund tycoon Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah, oil tycoon Harold Hamm, hotelier Robert Bigelow and casino mogul Steve Wynn.

Bigelow and Hamm had previously funneled money to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in his ill-fated presidential run against Trump in the primary. Hamm previously donated to former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign as well. 

Scott Bessent, founder of the investment firm Key Square Group and former chief investment officer at George Soros’s Soros Fund Management, will also be co-hosting the event. Bessent has been rumored to be a potential cabinet nominee in a second Trump administration.  

The event will also be attended by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Strategas Jason Trennert, one of Wall Street’s top thought leaders.

Chicago Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts and New York Jets co-owner Woody Johnson are also expected to be involved along with Wilbur Ross, Trump’s former secretary of commerce. 

The event tops out at the ‘Chairman Level,’ which costs $824,600 and includes seating at the former president’s table. 

‘Now that President Trump won the primaries, defeating all 10 contenders by a landslide, I think it’s time for Republicans to unite behind him,’ Paulsen recently told Bloomberg. ‘For that reason, I’m hosting this inaugural event to galvanize the broad support there is for the president.’

The event comes after President Biden raised at least $26 million in a star-studded event with former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Many expect Trump’s fundraising haul to eclipse that record-setting figure and possibly raise around $43 million.

On April 10, Trump will hold a fundraising luncheon in the swing state of Georgia with former Georgia Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. Top GOP donors are expected to attend, including Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus, poultry industry executive Tommy Bagwell, beverage sector executive Don Leebern III and Buckhead advocate Bill White.

On that same day, Trump will be holding a fundraiser in Orlando, Florida, with attorney Dan Newlin.

‘President Donald J. Trump has again created a fundraising juggernaut among Republicans. While he has been the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party for less than a month, the RNC and Trump campaign are one unified operation and focused on victory,’ Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement this week.

We’re raising funds and making strategic investments to get out the vote and protect the ballot. We are going to win BIG in just 31 weeks,’ Whatley predicted.

Fox News Digital confirmed Trump and the RNC brought in $65.6 million in March and ended the month with $93.1 million in cash on hand. The figures include money raised by a number of fundraising committees.

The Biden campaign reported raising $53 million in February, ending the month with $155 million on hand. 

While Trump trails with cash on hand, The New York Times reported in February that Trump leads Biden when it comes to small-dollar donors who gave less than $200.

The White House said it remains committed to ensuring a Hamas surrender and has engaged in conversations with intermediary countries, including Qatar and Egypt, to achieve that end.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said it delivered that message ‘forcefully’ to counterparts in Qatar and Egypt, which have acted as mediators in the ongoing Middle East conflict. U.S. officials’ continued push for a surrender underscores the delicate balance the White House is seeking to achieve as it works to end hostilities.

‘We’ve been clear publicly, as well as privately, that this conflict could end today if Hamas would just lay down their arms and that if Hamas cared about the lives of the Palestinian people, they would do that,’ the National Security Council spokesperson said.

White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said President Biden wants Hamas to surrender and pointed to examples of the president and other officials saying so in the past. Biden remarked during his State of the Union address last month that the conflict would end if Hamas stood down, released its hostages and handed over those responsible for the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel.

Yet, the White House asserts that it is actively working to achieve a Hamas surrender even as Biden intensifies pressure on the Israeli government. In a phone call Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden called for an immediate cease-fire, saying it is ‘essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians.’ 

According to a readout of the call released by the White House, Biden further stated that U.S. policy would hinge on Israel’s response to humanitarian concerns in Gaza. 

Earlier this week, seven World Central Kitchen aid workers were killed by Israeli airstrikes, adding to growing concerns about the humanitarian situation on the ground in Gaza. Israel’s bombardment of Gaza targeting Hamas is now in its fifth month – part of its response to terrorist attacks committed by the militant group on Oct. 7, 2023 – which resulted in more than 1,200 civilian deaths and has been called ‘Israel’s 9/11.’ 

‘It’s a signal that the U.S. government is losing patience with the approach that the Israeli government has taken in Gaza, and that there may be some appetite in the Biden administration to put tighter controls on how its military and other resources are being used by the Israeli government,’ Ian Hurd, the director of Northwestern University’s Weinberg College Center for International and Area Studies, told Fox News Digital.

‘I think there’s a longer-term shift going on with global support, and the Netanyahu government may be miscalculating the strength of its military backers.’

Hurd added that focus should be placed on Israel’s actions in Gaza, rather than Hamas’ actions or response to U.S. pressure.

Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president for research at the nonpartisan Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Biden’s actions and decision to reprimand Netanyahu will embolden Hamas, characterizing the White House as an ‘inadvertent ally of Hamas.’ He also argued Biden hasn’t called for a Hamas surrender forcefully enough.

‘Why would Hamas make a deal for hostages right now, when it’s the U.S. that is putting significant pressure on the Israelis, and they’re holding the Israelis back from finishing off Hamas? Why would they want to make any concessions?’ Schanzer said. ‘They’re holding all the cards right now, and some of the cards have just been handed to them by the administration.’

‘There’s a weird equivalence thing going on here, where the administration is beating up on its allies and ignoring the crimes of its adversaries and enemies,’ he continued. ‘And one does get a sense here that politics is a major factor.’

Fox News Digital’s Michael Lee contributed to this report.

The Central Intelligence Agency is denying whistleblower claims that it ‘stonewalled’ an IRS interview with Hunter Biden’s ‘sugar brother’ Kevin Morris, saying the agency ‘did not prevent or seek to prevent IRS or DOJ from conducting any such interview.’ 

A whistleblower approached House Republicans last month claiming that the CIA blocked an interview with Morris conducted by the IRS as part of the federal investigation into Hunter Biden. 

According to the whistleblower, in August 2021, when IRS investigators on the Hunter Biden federal investigation were preparing to interview Morris, the CIA ‘intervened to stop the interview.’ 

The whistleblower alleged that the CIA summoned two Justice Department officials to the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, for a briefing regarding Morris. 

The whistleblower claimed that Morris ‘could not be a witness in the investigation.’ 

The allegations were laid out in a letter sent to CIA Director Bill Burns last month by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky.

But the CIA this week said the allegation is ‘false.’ 

‘Without confirming or denying the existence of any associations or communications, CIA did not prevent or seek to prevent IRS or DOJ from conducting any such interview,’ James Catella, the CIA’s director of the Office of Congressional Affairs, wrote in a letter to Jordan and Comer. ‘The allegation is false.’ 

The CIA said that, as a general matter, and ‘without specific reference to the issue about which you have inquired, CIA facilitates the Department of Justice’s access to national security information in the context of investigations and prosecutions in a variety of circumstances.’ 

‘For example, CIA engages with DOJ to enable prosecutors to understand national security information that may arise in the course of an investigation and to assess their discovery obligations,’ Catella wrote. 

‘CIA cooperates with law enforcement partners and does not obstruct U.S. law enforcement investigations or prosecutions,’ he continued. ‘To the extent your letter seeks information about any ongoing federal law enforcement investigation or prosecution, the Department of Justice is the responsible agency.’ 

But a spokesperson for the House Judiciary Committee pushed back against the CIA’s denial. 

‘The allegation is not false,’ Russell Dye, the spokesperson for the House Judiciary Committee, told Fox News Digital. 

The House Judiciary Committee also told Fox News Digital that they will continue to investigate the allegations brought forth by the whistleblower, and said that the committee stands ‘completely behind the whistleblower, who will prove it all to be true and the CIA to be wrong.’ 

Morris loaned Hunter Biden approximately $6.5 million — over $1 million more than originally estimated and discussed — his attorney revealed in a letter earlier this year. 

Morris, who was subpoenaed to testify as part of the impeachment inquiry, testified that he loaned Hunter Biden at least $5 million and began paying his tax liability. Morris and his attorney were estimating during the interview, a source told Fox News, and promised to follow-up with exact figures loaned to the first son. The attorney followed up to note Morris had given an additional $1.6 million to Hunter Biden. 

Morris, on Oct. 13, 2021, gave Hunter Biden a loan for approximately $1.4 million. According to the letter, Hunter Biden was to repay the loan, with $500,000 paid by Oct. 1, 2026 and the remaining $417,634 by Oct. 1, 2027, plus interest.

A few days later, Morris loaned Hunter Biden $2.6 million, with directions to repay the loan by Oct. 1, 2029. That loan, according to Morris’ lawyer, ‘was used to pay, among other debts, Mr. Biden’s tax debt to the IRS.’

On Oct. 17, 2022, Morris loaned Hunter Biden $640,355 to be repaid by Oct. 15, 2027. In December 2022, Morris loaned Hunter $685,813.99, to be repaid by Oct. 15, 2027.

A year later, Dec. 29, 2023, Morris loaned Hunter approximately $1.2 million to be repaid by Oct. 15, 2028, with all interest paid by October 2029.

Special Counsel David Weiss charged Hunter Biden with nine federal tax charges, which break down to three felonies and six misdemeanors for $1.4 million in owed taxes that have since been paid. 

Weiss charged Hunter in December, alleging a ‘four-year scheme’ in which the president’s son did not pay his federal income taxes from January 2017 to October 2020 while also filing false tax reports.

Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Weiss also indicted the first son on federal gun charges in Delaware last year. Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to those charges as well. His attorneys are attempting to have that case dismissed.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) temporarily suspended its controversial rule requiring private companies to disclose carbon emissions data after it was met with a slew of lawsuits. 

The rule, which was finalized in March, was immediately met with litigation by a cohort of 25 GOP attorneys general, along with energy companies Liberty Energy and Nomad Proppant Services, and business groups including the Chamber of Commerce, Texas Alliance of Energy Producers and Domestic Energy Producers Alliance.

Last month, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a brief administrative stay of the rule while the various lawsuits were consolidated. The groups asked the 8th Circuit to force the SEC to block its rule. On Friday, the SEC voluntarily agreed to temporarily suspend its rule while the litigation continues on the merits. 

‘The mandate is part of Biden’s radical green scheme to influence investments based on climate change theories instead of returns,’ Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said Friday, adding that ‘it would’ve cost Missouri businesses millions of dollars per year.’ 

‘It would’ve required businesses to disclose climate-related risks, including higher insurance rates from weather disasters, and release a plan to adapt to climate agenda recommendations,’ Bailey said.

‘Our message to Joe Biden: you cannot implement this insane climate mandate without an act of Congress. Constitution 101: Separation of powers,’ Bailey stated on X.

In a letter to the 8th Circuit, the SEC said that the stay order ‘reaffirms the Commission’s ‘view that the Final Rules are consistent with applicable law and within the Commission’s long-standing authority,’’

‘As the Commission explains, particularly given the procedural complexities of this litigation, a stay will facilitate this Court’s orderly resolution of petitioners’ challenges and will avoid potential regulatory uncertainty ‘if registrants were to become subject to the Final Rules’ requirements during the pendency of the challenges to their validity,’’ the letter sent Friday states. 

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird reacted to the SEC’s announcement Friday, calling the rule ‘Biden’s most outrageous climate mandate for businesses yet,’ and called the SEC’s stay of the rule a ‘huge win.’ 

Under the leadership of Chairman Gary Gensler, whom President Biden appointed to the role, the SEC approved the climate disclosure rules on March 6 in a 3-2 vote after nearly two years of heated deliberations.

The SEC has said that the rules reflect ‘investors’ demand for more consistent, comparable, and reliable information about the financial effects of climate-related risks.’ 

And Gensler said they will further guarantee companies ‘produce more useful information than what investors see today.’

Fox News Digital’s Thomas Cattennacci contributed to this report. 

House Republican leadership is blasting President Biden after he suggested the U.S. could curb its support for Israel if it did not do more to protect civilians in Gaza.

‘There’s only one group of people who stand to benefit from conditions to Israel aid, and that is Hamas. Once again, Joe Biden is empowering barbaric terrorists by undermining our strongest ally in the Middle East,’ House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Fox News Digital on Friday.

Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone on Thursday as the president faced growing pressure from the left to do more for civilians in Gaza. The White House said Biden ‘made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers’ and that ‘U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.’

House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital when asked about the possibility of President Biden curbing military aid to Israel, ‘It is completely unacceptable for Joe Biden to demand that our most precious ally Israel surrender to Hamas terrorists.’

‘Israel has every right to defend itself. House Republicans will continue to fight so that they have the resources needed to complete their mission,’ Stefanik said.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for clarification on Biden’s comments and a response to the House GOP leaders’ criticism. 

Progressives have for months pushed Biden to curb military aid to Israel, accusing the Middle Eastern country of running afoul of U.S. policies on humanitarian support with its campaign in Gaza. More Democrats joined that wave in the wake of an Israeli military airstrike that killed seven humanitarian aid workers in central Gaza this week. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said on the Democrat-friendly program ‘Pod Save America,’ ‘From a moral perspective and from a political perspective, I hope very much that what he’s saying today really does indicate a change in policy.’

But Republicans and some moderate Democrats have argued that the U.S. weakening its support for Israel is a victory for Hamas. GOP lawmakers blasted Biden after the White House said he urged Netanyahu to call ‘an immediate cease-fire…to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians.’

‘The president’s ultimatums should be going to Hamas, not Israel,’ Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., wrote on X on Thursday. ‘Hamas resisted a ceasefire, brought about needless bloodshed, and refuses to release Israeli and American hostages. Biden should not undercut our ally amidst an existential threat by conditioning our support.’

Republicans in the Senate similarly hit back at Biden on social media.

‘Today, Hamas launched another salvo of rockets toward civilians in Israel while President Biden declared he wants to change policy toward Israel. We all want the peace and protection of civilians, but you cannot pacify terrorists,’ Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said on X.

Sen. John Barrasso, R–Wyo., said President Biden ‘needs to support Israel’s fight to protect its people and defeat terrorists.’

‘He will fall on the wrong side of history if he turns his back on our ally,’ he said.

Israel has been at war with Hamas in Gaza since shortly after Oct. 7, when militants from the terrorist group invaded southern Israel and killed more than 1,200 people — mainly civilians.

The Palestinian death toll since Oct. 7 is over 30,000, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.