Biden implies Netanyahu's possible embrace of certain two-state solutions

US President Joe Biden has said creation of an independent state for Palestinians was not impossible while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was still in office, and the two leaders had discussed the issue.

Asked on Friday if a two-state solution to Middle East's decades-old conflict arising out of Israel's occupation of historic Palestine was "impossible" while Netanyahu was in office, Biden said, "No, it's not."

Biden said Netanyahu was not opposed to all two-states solutions, and there were a number of types possible, adding that some United Nations members don't have military forces.

Earlier on Friday, the White House said Biden had pushed Netanyahu on the need for Palestinian sovereignty recognised by Tel Aviv, as the two leaders spoke for the first time in a month amid tensions over plans for the aftermath of the Gaza war.

"The president still believes in the promise and the possibility of a two-state solution" for both Israelis and Palestinians, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters in a briefing at the White House after the call.

During his conversation with Netanyahu, Biden "made clear his strong conviction that a two-state solution is still the right path ahead. And we're going to continue to make that case."

"Good friends and allies can have those kinds of candid, forthright discussions and we do," added Kirby.

The call came a day after Netanyahu said he opposes allowing Palestinian sovereignty that some 72 percent of UN member states already recognise, deepening Israeli divisions with key backer Washington over the conduct of Israel's invasion and what comes next.

The United States gives Israel $3.8 billion in annual military dole. Biden has asked Congress to approve an additional $14 billion, part of a sweeping supplemental funding request stalled in Congress as Republicans and Democrats negotiate immigration policy changes.

The call also discussed US hostages still among those held captive by Hamas since the October 7 blitz on Israel, Kirby added.

Questions about rift

Biden and Netanyahu last spoke on December 23 and the silence between them since has led to repeated questions about a rift.

The pair have had a notoriously complicated relationship in the past, with the Democratic US president last year pressing the far-right Israeli premier over controversial judicial reforms.

But Biden has stood firmly behind Israel since October 7, even travelling to the country after the attacks, where he publicly embraced Netanyahu, pledged full US support and also called himself a "Zionist."

Fresh tensions have emerged since then however as the toll of the Israeli invasion on Gaza has mounted, with Biden warning that Israel could lose support by "indiscriminate bombing". Yet, US has continued to arm Israel to the teeth and shelter it from UN resolutions calling for ceasefire in Gaza.

'Security control'

Israel is also bristling at the US push for a future solution to include sovereignty for the Palestinians.

Biden ended his tense last call with Netanyahu in December abruptly amid a disagreement over vital Palestinian tax revenues held by Israel, saying "this conversation is over," Axios reported.

The call on Friday was not however in direct response to Netanyahu's comments the day before, Kirby said, adding that they had been trying to plan it for some time.

Netanyahu said on Thursday that his country "must have security control over all the territory west of the Jordan [River]" and that he had made this clear to Israel's "American friends".

"This is a necessary condition, and it conflicts with the idea of (Palestinian) sovereignty," Netanyahu said in public remarks.

One day earlier at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel would not get "genuine security" without a "pathway to a Palestinian state."

During a trip to the Middle East last week, Blinken told Israeli authorities that Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, were committed to helping reconstruct Gaza and aiding with future Palestinian governance, but only on the condition that Israel clear the path for Palestinian statehood.

Netanyahu maintained on Thursday that "a prime minister in Israel should be able to say no, even to our best friends — to say no when necessary, and to say yes if possible."

At the heart of ongoing war

The October 7 attacks resulted in the deaths of about 1,140 people in Israel, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Hamas fighters also seized about 250 captives, around 132 of whom Israel says remain in Gaza.

Hamas says its Operation Al Aqsa Flood — a multi-pronged surprise raid that included a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel by land, sea and air — was in retaliation for the storming of the Al Aqsa Mosque, growing violence by illegal Israeli settlers, and consistent raids on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Before the start of the fight, 2023 was considered the deadliest year for Palestinians that didn't involve major clashes between the two sides.

Israel's relentless air and ground invasion since October 7 has killed at least 24,762 Palestinians, around 70 percent of them women, young children and adolescents, and wounded 62,108. Thousands are feared buried under the debris of buildings annihilated by Israel in land and aerial bombardment.

More than 90 percent of Palestinians have been uprooted by Israeli invasion and the United Nations says more than half a million people in Gaza — a quarter of the population — are starving.