Joe Biden, US president has told Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu that his approach on Gaza was a “mistake.”

The President further urged Israel to call for a ceasefire.

It happened to be some of Biden’s strongest criticism yet of Netanyahu amid growing tensions over the civilian death toll from Israel’s war on Hamas.

“I think what he’s doing is a mistake. I don’t agree with his approach,” Biden told Univision, a US Spanish-language TV network, when asked about Netanyahu’s handling of the war.

The US number one citizen reiterated that an Israeli drone attack last week that killed seven aid workers from a US-based charity in Gaza – and sparked a tense phone call with Netanyahu – was “outrageous”.

“What I’m calling for is for the Israelis to just call for a ceasefire, allow for the next six, eight weeks, total access to all food and medicine going into the country,” said Biden.

The president’s earlier remarks was that the burden lay with Hamas to agree to a truce and hostage release deal.

Biden also stepped up pressure on Israel to let more aid into devastated Gaza.

“There’s no excuse to not provide for the medical and the food needs of those people. It should be done now,” he added.