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 Thursday 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.

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