President Joe Biden on Friday said calls from lawmakers to place conditions on U.S. aid to Israel was "a worthwhile thought."
"But I don't think if I started off with that we ever would have gotten to where we are today," he said during a press conference after Hamas released 24 hostages on the first day of a four-day truce in the war between the terrorist group and Israel.
"We have to take this a piece at a time," he added.
Biden over the weekend made an urgent plea for U.S. support to bolster Ukraine and Israel but the prospects of an aid package appear to be grim as lawmakers bicker over specifics.
House Speaker Mike Johnson's bill to provide only Israel with funding along with IRS cuts was quickly rejected by Senate Democrats.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., meanwhile, in a New York Times column this week said the blank check approach "must end."
"The United States must make clear that while we are friends of Israel, there are conditions to that friendship and that we cannot be complicit in actions that violate international law and our own sense of decency," he added.
The war in Gaza has resulted in the deaths of over 12,000 Palestinians, including over 4,600 children, since it began early last month, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Biden has been under pressure from lawmakers in his own party over the administration's support of Israel despite the number of Palestinian deaths.
He said Friday that he has encouraged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "focus on trying to reduce the number of casualties while he is attempting to eliminate Hamas, which is the legitimate objective use."
"That's a difficult task," he said.