At a press conference on Thursday night, President Joe Biden called Israel’s actions in Gaza following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack “over the top,” some of his strongest comments yet on the monthslong war in the Middle East.

The answer came at a press conference which largely centered on a Justice Department special counsel report about his handling of classified material after his vice presidency. The report did not recommend criminal charges against the president, but did question his recollection of events and his memory, which took up a significant portion of the remarks Thursday evening.

“I’m of the view, as you know, that conduct of the response in Gaza, in the Gaza Strip, has been over the top,” Biden said. He then went on to provide a compelling analysis about his efforts to get humanitarian aid into Gaza, which was overshadowed by the president referring to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi as the "president of Mexico.”

“I think that, as you know, initially, the president of Mexico, Sisi, did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian material to get in. I talked to him, I convinced him to open the gate,” Biden said. “I talked to Bibi [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] to open the gate on the Israeli side. I’ve been pushing really hard, really hard to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza.”

“There are a lot of innocent people starving, a lot of innocent people who are in trouble, dying, and it’s got to stop,” the president continued, before going on to say that he was a driving force behind making the case for increased amounts of aid going into Gaza, including fuel.

“I’ve been on the phone with the Qataris, I’ve been on the phone with the Egyptians, I’ve been on the phone with the Saudis to get as much aid as we possibly can into Gaza,” he said. “There are innocent people, innocent women and children who are badly in need of help.”

Biden said he’s “pushing very hard now” for a hostage swap and cease-fire in Gaza, “working tirelessly in this deal … to lead to a sustained pause in the fighting.”

The president’s comments come one day after Netanyahu rejected Hamas’ demands for a cease-fire. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that he believes there’s “space” for a new deal, despite that some of Hamas’ stipulations "were non-starters.”

“What I can tell you about these discussions is that while there are some clear non-starters in Hamas’ response, we do think it creates space for agreement to be reached and we will work at that relentlessly until we get there,” Blinken said at a press conference in Tel Aviv following a day of meetings with Israeli officials, including Netanyahu.

“Clearly there are things that Hamas sent back that are absolute non-starters and I assume that was what the prime minister was referring to, but I don’t want to speak for him,” Blinken said. “But at the same time, we see in what was sent back space to continue to pursue an agreement.”

The Democratic president’s comments also came amid pressure from his left flank over his support for Israel. Officials from his administration on Thursday met with Arab American and Muslim leaders in Michigan to try and mend ties with the community over his support amid fears that Biden could lose support for his reelection bid from a crucial community in a key swing state.

Spectrum News' Maddie Gannon and The Associated Press contributed to this report.