Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received “special support” from US President Joe Biden for a ground invasion of the besieged Gaza Strip during talks in Israel on Wednesday, the Times of London reported.

The report said that Biden told Netanyahu that he still “fully supports” Israel’s plans to launch a ground incursion to “eliminate Hamas” despite anger over the bombing of the Arab National Hospital in Gaza City, which Israel blames on the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, with a missile that went astray. The United States supports the Israeli side of the story, while Palestinian officials insist that the Israeli airstrike hit the hospital.

According to a report issued by the American website Axios about Wednesday’s talks between Biden and Netanyahu, the basic message expressed by Israeli officials to President Biden was that the war in Gaza will take time and will test American support for Israel, which will double the number of Palestinian civilian deaths, especially since until this moment More than 3,500 Palestinians have been killed, the vast majority of them civilians, since the beginning of the Israeli attack on Gaza on October 7th.

An Israeli ground invasion of Gaza appeared imminent near the end of last week when Israel ordered the evacuation of northern Gaza, an area where 1.1 million people live.

The Jerusalem Post reported that the incursion was delayed due to fears that Hezbollah would open a second front in the north.

The United States has deployed two aircraft carrier strike groups and other military assets to “deter” other actors from joining the war, and the White House has discussed the possibility of using military force against Hezbollah if it launches a major attack on Israel.

The Axios report said that Biden expressed to Netanyahu his concern that Hezbollah might join the war beyond the cross-border missile strikes it exchanges with Israel in the north.