JERUSALEM, Israel – U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met Thursday with Israeli political and military leaders, as the U.S. is reportedly pressing Israel to shift its military operations to avoid Palestinian civilian casualties while acknowledging Israel’s need to defeat Hamas.
So far, Israel is not backing down on its military campaign.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Sullivan for U.S. support in supplying munitions, blocking United Nations attempts to impose a ceasefire in Gaza and for Washington’s assistance in returning the hostages.
But Sullivan leaned on Israeli leaders to shift from all-out war against Hamas through airstrikes and ground assaults in Gaza to more targeted operations. This, came amid a growing rift between Israel and the U.S. over civilian casualties, wrapping up the war, and the future of Gaza.
“He (Sullivan) did talk about possible transitioning from what we would call high-intensity operations, which is what we’re seeing them do now, to lower intensity operations sometime in the near future,” explained National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby, who added, “But I don’t want to put a time stamp on it, and I think you can understand that the last thing we want to do is telegraph to Hamas what they’re likely
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