First Lady Jill Biden has been encouraging her husband to adopt a more assertive approach towards the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip, as per The New York Times. Biden is facing mounting political pressure to demand a halt to Israel’s military actions in Gaza against Hamas, the extremist group responsible for the deaths of more than 1,200 civilians on Oct. 7. During a meeting with Muslim community leaders at the White House, Biden mentioned that the first lady is exerting similar pressure on him, revealing that she had advised him to “cease it,” as reported by NYT.

Biden’s response to an attendee who suggested that his wife opposed his attendance at the meeting due to his support for Israel’s military campaign was that he comprehended the sentiment, highlighting that Jill had instructed him to “Stop it now, Joe,” according to Salima Suswell, another participant at the gathering, as relayed by the outlet. The White House clarified to the NYT that there was no discord between Biden and the first lady regarding the conflict, emphasizing that both were equally dismayed by the civilian casualties in Gaza. The first lady was not advocating for Biden to demand a complete cessation of Israel’s defensive actions, the White House stated.

“Just like the president, the first lady is heartbroken over the attacks on aid workers and the ongoing loss of innocent lives in Gaza. They both want Israel to do more to protect civilians,” Elizabeth Alexander, Jill Biden’s communications director, told the NYT.

According to the New York Times, the first lady has a historical stance against American interventionism in global affairs. This is partly due to her son, Beau Biden, who served in Iraq during the late 2000s. In a White House event in late 2022, she expressed her anger towards someone who spoke positively about former president George W. Bush, stating, “He sent my son to war,” as reported by the NYT.

Additionally, Jill Biden showed her support for the Biden administration’s flawed Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021, which tragically resulted in the loss of 13 U.S. troops and numerous Afghan civilian lives. The administration also left behind a significant amount of military equipment, including munitions, military vehicles, and operational gear, valued at over $7 billion.

“I think he trusts my intuition as a spouse,” she told the NYT in 2021.

A significant portion of Biden’s Muslim and younger supporters, as well as certain factions within his administration, are urging him to advocate for a cessation of hostilities in the Gaza conflict. Biden’s remarks on Tuesday followed an unfortunate incident where an aid convoy in Gaza was mistakenly targeted by an Israeli airstrike, resulting in the loss of seven workers’ lives.

According to Axios, Biden expressed his “outrage” over Israel’s error and is expected to address this matter during his upcoming conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday. Over the past few months, tensions between Biden and Netanyahu have escalated due to disagreements regarding the conduct of the war in Gaza.

“Biden is pissed. The temperature regarding Bibi is very high,” a U.S. official told Axios.