Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he had not spoken to US President Joe Biden since the latter’s statements regarding the Israeli military response to the attack by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) being “exaggerated.”

Netanyahu's statements came in an interview with Fox News Sunday.

Netanyahu said in an interview broadcast on ABC on Sunday that “a sufficient number of 132 Israeli hostages” are alive in Gaza to justify the continuation of the Israeli war in the region.

In this context, the Washington Post newspaper quoted informed sources as saying, “The growing frustration with the Israeli Prime Minister prompted some aides to US President Joe Biden to urge him to be more publicly critical of Netanyahu regarding the military operation in Gaza.”

According to the newspaper, “Biden and his senior aides have become closer to breaking with Netanyahu than ever before since the start of the Gaza war, and they no longer view him as a productive partner who can be influenced even in secret.”

It stated, “At the present time, the White House rejects calls to stop military aid to Israel, or impose conditions on it, considering that this will only encourage Israel’s enemies.” But some Biden aides say that “criticizing Netanyahu will allow the president to distance himself from... "An unpopular leader who adopts scorched earth policies."

American and Israeli newspapers and media outlets discussed the deteriorating relationship between Biden and Netanyahu, against the backdrop of the aggression against Gaza, and spoke of the existence of hostility between them.

According to the Israeli media, Biden described Netanyahu as a “bad boy,” but these differences did not affect the nature of American support for Israel.

The Israeli media reported that sources in Biden's circle say that "the feeling is growing that Netanyahu is procrastinating the war, due to personal reasons, and that he does not place the release of prisoners as a top priority."

Last month, Israeli media revealed that Biden hung up the phone on Netanyahu during their last call on December 23.