Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that he can order strikes in Israel at his discretion and that he is not controlled by the US. 

Haaretz reports that the Israeli leader said Sunday that Israel “does not seek anyone’s approval” for strikes in Gaza. The remarks follow a report on Thursday that top US officials told Netanyahu that Washington expects to be informed before Tel Aviv attacks Gaza. 

He says the US approves of Tel Aviv having full decision-making over striking Gaza. “Israel will decide which forces are unacceptable. The US agrees to this,” he said. 

Last week, Israel bombed Gaza dozens of times, claiming it was reacting to a Hamas attack in Rafah. However, the White House knew there was no Hamas attack. When Washington informed Tel Aviv, it was aware that the explosion was caused by an Israeli bulldozer hitting an unexploded munition. 

While the reporting said that Washington’s expectations did not amount to Netanyahu needing Trump’s permission to bomb Gaza, the President has sent a number of high-level officials to Israel to keep the Prime Minister from breaking the ceasefire. Trump’s policy has been dubbed “Bibi-sitting.”

Some Israeli officials said that Israel is struggling to dictate policy to the US. Israeli officials told Haaretz that they “have the impression that American scrutiny of Israel has reached a point that usurps Israel’s military and diplomatic power.” They added, “Netanyahu continues to deny this new reality because it contradicts his attempts to create a narrative of victory in the war, at least in the eyes of his political supporters.”

In his remarks, Netanyahu argued he has been able to violate the ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah and Hamas at his discretion. “I want to make one thing clear – our security policy is in our own hands. We are not willing to tolerate attacks against us, we respond at our discretion against attacks, as we saw in Lebanon and recently in Gaza,” he said.