Posted on 12/14/23
| News Source: NY Times
The Biden administration has told the Israeli government that it wants Israel to end its large-scale ground campaign in the Gaza Strip around the end of the year and transition to a more targeted phase in its war against Hamas, four senior U.S. officials said.
As the Biden administration envisions, this new phase would involve the use of smaller groups of elite Israeli forces that would move in and out of population centers in Gaza, carrying out more precise missions to find and kill Hamas leaders, rescue hostages and destroy tunnels.
During meetings in Israel that began on Thursday, American officials said Jake Sullivan, Mr. Biden’s national security adviser, discussed the timeline for a transition to lower-intensity operations supported by the U.S. administration.
The U.S. calls for a change in tactics came as Israel’s defense minister said on Thursday that the war against Hamas “will last more than several months,” signaling determination to carry on with the bombardment of Gaza.
Before meeting with Mr. Sullivan, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant repeated Israel’s arguments that destroying Hamas, the armed group that carried out the devastating Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, was essential to Israel’s security and was difficult because Hamas has built an extensive underground infrastructure in Gaza.
U.S. officials said the Biden administration understands and accepts that Israel’s efforts to hunt down Hamas leaders will continue for months, even after the transition from higher to lower intensity operations takes place.
Still, differences between the United States and Israel have widened in recent weeks over Israel’s conduct of its war against Hamas and a postwar settlement for the Gaza Strip.
U.S. officials said Mr. Biden wants Israel to end the large-scale ground campaign in the Gaza Strip within three weeks, or soon thereafter. They asked for anonymity to discuss the president’s thinking.