Biden meets liberal lawmakers opposed to Israel's carnage in Gaza

President Joe Biden has met with US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and two other prominent liberal lawmakers opposed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's carnage of besieged Palestinians in Gaza.

The meeting came on Monday as Biden's support for Israel's war crimes in the blockaded enclave has divided Democrats, fraying Biden's coalition of voters ahead of November's presidential election.

Biden was seen walking into the Oval Office with Ocasio-Cortez as well as Senators Bernie Sanders and Ed Markey after returning to the White House from an Earth Day event they all attended in Virginia.

The lawmakers have sharply criticised Israel's policies, with Ocasio-Cortez last month describing the humanitarian situation in Gaza as "an unfolding genocide."

Still, the congresswoman from New York earlier this month made a case for Biden's reelection despite his support for Israel, citing a "vested interest in protecting democracy not just here domestically, but globally" in an interview with the media organisation Zeteo.

"I learned a long time ago to listen to that lady," Biden said of Ocasio-Cortez in Virginia.

"We're going to talk more about another part of the world, too."

The White House and the lawmakers declined to comment on the subject of the meeting.

Biden condemns 'anti-Semitic protests'

Earlier on Monday, Biden said he condemned what he called "anti-Semitic protests" but also "those who don't understand what's going on with the Palestinians."

His administration has put increasingly more emphasis on the Palestinian humanitarian situation in recent months yet has not shied away from maintaining unconditional military and political support for Israel.

Human rights advocates have reported a general rise in bias and hate incidents against Arabs and Muslims.

Israel has killed at least 34,151 Palestinians, 70 percent of them babies, children and women, and wounded over 77,084 others in its mass murder campaign in Gaza.

The Israeli war has pushed 85 percent of Gaza's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60 percent of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the Hague-based ICJ, which issued an interim ruling in January ordering Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.