Tension between Biden and Israel’s Netanyahu as Gaza campaign rages on - latest

Nikki Haley stars in Saturday Night Live skit opposite ‘Donald Trump’

Tensions between Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly ramped up behind the scenes, with the president telling advisers and others that the Israeli prime minister is ignoring his advice and obstructing efforts to stymie the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Middle East.

Mr Biden has not criticised Mr Netanyahu publicly, but has become increasingly critical of Israel’s tactics, CNN reported via sources. Last week the president said he believes the campaign in Gaza is “over the top.”

Meanwhile, over in the Republican camppresidential candidate Nikki Haley has blamed rival Donald Trump for the GOP’s disastrous recent run in Congress, which saw the House fail to impeach homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the state of illegal immigration at the US southern border and the collapse of a major funding bill last Tuesday.

“Republicans had a really bad day,” Ms Haley told a crowd in Newberry, South Carolina, while campaigning on Saturday afternoon ahead of her home state’s primary on 24 February.

Over the weekend, she and Mr Trump were embroiled a further argument after the latter questioned her husband’s absence from the campaign trail.

Major Michael Haley is currently serving his country overseas.

Super Tuesday, the biggest day of the US presidential primary season, arrives early next month and promises to have a decisive if perhaps somewhat anticlimactic impact on the respective Republican and Democratic races.

As it stands, Donald Trump looks all but certain to be the GOP’s presidential candidate once again in 2024, having already chalked up big wins in the Iowa and US Virgin Islands caucuses and the New Hampshire and Nevada