US President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting of his Competition Council in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 5, 2024. AFP
"It's in the hands of Hamas right now," the US president told reporters from Maryland, while talks, boycotted by Israel, continue in Cairo.
"There's got to be a ceasefire because Ramadan -- if we get into circumstances where this continues to Ramadan, Israel and Jerusalem could be very, very dangerous."
He did not elaborate but the United States urged Israel last week to allow Muslims to worship at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem during Ramadan.
The Israeli government said it would allow Muslim worshippers access to Al-Aqsa during Ramadan "in similar numbers to those in previous years".
Meanwhile, Israel is facing increasing criticism from its top ally the United States as conditions in the besieged Gaza Strip deteriorate and famine looms.
In Khan Younis, the main city in Gaza's south, people described finding decomposing bodies lying in streets lined with destroyed buildings.
"We want to eat and live. Take a look at our homes. How am I to blame, a single, unarmed person without any income in this impoverished country?" said Nader Abu Shanab, pointing to the rubble with blackened hands.
The UN's World Food Programme said Israeli troops turned away an aid convoy at a checkpoint leading to northern Gaza and that it was later looted "by desperate people".
Israel's brutal war on Gaza has killed more than 30,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, while relentless bombardment has reduced most of the territory to rubble.
More than 85 percent of Gaza's population has been displaced by the Israeli invasion, with no clear resolution in sight.
*This story has been edited by Ahram Online
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