Israel faces growing U.S. ire on war in Gaza

TEL AVIV — Israel has agreed to reschedule talks on Gaza that it called off in protest just days ago, an apparent effort to mend a growing rift with Washington over the war that was highlighted Wednesday by the resignation of a State Department official and new polling showing that a majority in the United States now disapprove of its ally’s conduct.

The official, Annelle Sheline, who was focused on human rights issues in the Middle East, told NBC News she felt she had no choice but to publicly resign as the death toll in the Gaza Strip has soared past 32,000 people and as warnings of an imminent famine in the Palestinian enclave reach a fever pitch.

Sheline said she decided to quit in protest over ongoing U.S. diplomatic and military support for Israel.

She said in a phone interview Wednesday that she no longer wanted to be affiliated with a government that she said was “enabling what has credibly been described as a genocide,” a charge both Israel and the U.S. have vehemently rejected.

“I have a young daughter,” Sheline said. “Someday reading about this in school, she might ask, what did I do?” she said. “I want to be able to tell her that I tried to do as much as I could.”

The Biden administration has stepped up its criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and this week allowed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza to pass.

Tensions between U.S. and Israel rise after U.N. ceasefire vote

The U.S. had previously vetoed similar U.N. resolutions, but on Monday it abstained from voting, allowing the resolution to pass — a move that sparked outrage in Israel. Angela Weiss / AFP - Getty Images

Netanyahu responded by scrapping a planned visit by a high-level delegation to Washington for talks over the Israeli military’s plan for a ground offensive on Rafah, where more than 1 million people have sought refuge but Israel says its troops must enter to eliminate Hamas.

The Israeli leader has now backtracked and efforts were underway to set a new date for the talks, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

Despite the apparent effort to ease tensions, Netanyahu on Wednesday told a bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation that he had no intention of backing away from an offensive on Rafah.

“Victory is within reach. It’s a few weeks away,” he said at the event, organized by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Jerusalem. But, he said, “now we’re told, ‘You can’t do this. If you go into Rafah, you’re going to have a humanitarian catastrophe.'”

Addressing concerns over the safety of the displaced Gazans sheltering there, including many children, Netanyahu suggested that “they can move” farther north — despite the fact that much of the infrastructure across the territory has largely been destroyed in Israel’s offensive, while access to aid in northern Gaza remains limited.