Senior Biden advisor: 'We know we made mistakes in handling the war in Gaza'

U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer said this week in closed conversations with Arab-American leaders in Michigan that the U.S. administration "is aware of their mistakes in responding to the war in Gaza."

This comment was published in the New York Times on Saturday night based on a recording sent to them.

Finer also said that he has no confidence that the Israeli government will take significant steps toward a Palestinian state.

"We know full well that we have made missteps in responding to the crisis since October 7," Finer said.

Finer's words came after repeated warnings to Israel from the U.S. administration to take a more surgical approach to the conflict, referring to the high number of Palestinian casualties.

U.S. President Joe Biden previously pressured Netanyahu to reduce the war in Gaza to a surgical operation, relying more on raids by special forces against Hamas leaders and tunnels as opposed to large-scale bombings, the New York Times reported about a month ago.

About two weeks ago, NBC reported that Biden's administration discussed using arms sales to Israel as leverage to persuade the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to heed long-standing U.S. calls to reduce the scale of the military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

This is according to three current and one former U.S. officials. The directive was passed to the Pentagon to examine the matter, but to date, no decision has been made. Among the arms being considered for delay: Artillery shells and kits that turn dumb bombs into smart ones.