US President Joe Biden and his team have markedly shifted their tone on the Israel-Hamas crisis in recent days, moving from unfettered support of Israel to emphasising the need to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza ahead of a looming Israeli ground invasion, Reuters reports.

A White House official said the shift in tone was based on “the facts on the ground” in Gaza with a humanitarian crisis worsening and the Biden team’s “conversations with countries around the world.”

“We’ve seen sort of an evolution from sort of full-throated, unconditional hugging of Israel to a little bit more nuance,” said one former official who is in touch with current officials.

Biden has evolved in the face of a challenging 2024 reelection bid, threats by some would-be supporters to withhold their votes over his lack of backing for Palestinians, and a warning from former president Barack Obama that Israel’s actions could backfire.

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