United States: The US signaled on Friday that the United States and Israel disagreed on how swiftly to end the Gaza conflict, with President Joe Biden’s national security advisor stating such timing was now the topic of “intensive discussion” between the partners.
Biden’s Warning on International Support
Biden, at the very beginning of the week, said that Israel ran the risk of losing international support due to “indiscriminate” air strikes, killing civilians. Due to the fact that intense ground fighting has expanded across the length of the Gaza Strip, aid organizations are warning of humanitarian Catastrophe.
Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, visited Israel on Thursday and Friday, and US officials informed journalists that he was sending a message to Israel to dial back the broad military campaign and shift to more carefully focused operations against Hamas leaders.
According to four US officials quoted by the New York Times, Biden intended that to happen within three weeks. However, while dealing with reporters, Sullivan avoided giving a precise response concerning the date.
“There will be a transition to another phase of this war, one that is focused more precisely on targeting the leadership and on intelligence-driven operations,” he said.
“When exactly that happens and under exactly what conditions will be a continuing intensive discussion between the United States and Israel,” he added.
“The conditions and the timing for that was a subject of conversation I had with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, other Israeli government leaders and military commanders,” added Sullivan.
During Sullivan’s visit, Israeli leaders openly announced that they would continue the battle until they achieved their claimed goal of destroying Hamas, the Islamist terrorist organization whose militants rampaged through Israeli cities on October 7, killing 1,200 people and seizing 240 hostages.
On Thursday, Netanyahu informed Sullivan that Israel would battle “until absolute victory.” According to Yoav Gallant, Minister of Defense, the war will “last more than several months.”
Eylon Levy, an Israeli government spokeswoman, said Israel was winning the battle and weakening Hamas, citing a decrease in the number of rockets fired into Israel as evidence.
But hours later, for the first time in weeks, there were sirens and explosions in Jerusalem overhead from at least three interceptions by Israel’s Iron Dome air defense. The Hamas armed wing claimed responsibility for the missile launch, blaming it on “Zionist massacres against civilians.”
Sullivan did appear to secure one significant concession from Israel, which stated shortly after his departure that it would open the primary road connection into Gaza for humanitarian supplies for the first time since the conflict began, allowing relief deliveries to more than quadruple.
Previously, aid allowed into Gaza was trucked to Israel’s Kerem Shalom gate, inspected there, and then trucked back into Egypt to enter through the Egyptian-controlled Rafah crossing, which is primarily built for people.
Aid groups have long pushed with Israel to speed up delivery by allowing aid to enter directly at Kerem Shalom, warning of severe famine and sickness among Gaza’s 2.3 million population. The Israeli cabinet stated that the move would allow 200 trucks per day to deliver goods into Gaza, compared to Rafah’s capability of only 100.
Sullivan said Washington appreciated “this significant step,” which he said he was aware of before leaving. The World Health Organization described it as “good news.”
Nineteen thousand (19,000) deaths have been confirmed by Gaza health authorities, with thousands more to be buried under the garbage.
Residents in Gaza reported another night of intensive fighting and bombing across the enclave on Friday, particularly in the northern towns of Sheijaia, Sheikh Radwan, Zeitoun, Tuffah, and Beit Hanoun, as well as the center and northern outskirts of the main southern metropolis of Khan Younis.
Ahmed, 45, an electrician and father of six, told Reuters from a shelter in the central area of a densely populated enclave, “The Gaza Strip turned into a ball of fire overnight; we could hear explosions and gunshots echoing from all directions.”
“They can destroy homes and roads and kill civilians from the air or through blind tank shelling, but when they come face to face with the resistance, they lose. We don’t have anything to lose after all they had done to our Gaza,” he further said.
Though Biden’s forceful comments this week marked a clear shift in tone, Washington has thus far used diplomacy to shield its long-standing ally, even vetoing a resolution in the UN Security Council a week ago. The New York Times reported a three-week timeline for the shift to targeted operations, which would mean a reduction in the scope of the ground war in the early months of 2024.
Since a week-long cease-fire broke down at the beginning of December, the fighting over the past two weeks has intensified, and Israel is now extending its ground campaign from the northern half of the enclave into the South, according to the report by Reuters.