US presses Israel to end Gaza war soon
The first disagreements between Israel and the US over the military operation in the Gaza Strip have begun. After US President Joe Biden acknowledged that Israel was losing support for its "indiscriminate" bombardment of the Palestinian enclave - indicating that Netanyahu should change his strategy - his senior adviser, Jake Sullivan, has urged Israeli leaders to scale back military operations against Hamas in the coming weeks.
During his visit to Tel Aviv, Sullivan indicated that the Biden administration wants the Israel Defense Forces to end the current phase of "high-intensity" fighting in Gaza within weeks, as an Israeli official revealed to The Times of Israel.
Separately, according to senior US officials consulted by The Wall Street Journal, the national security adviser also pressed Israeli leaders to shift from air and ground attacks in Gaza to targeted military operations, warning that a protracted conflict would make the Palestinian territory more difficult to govern after the war.
The New York Times has also reported that Washington is pressuring Israel to end large-scale fighting before the end of the year. According to the US newspaper, the Biden administration wants the next stage of the war to be based on operations carried out by smaller groups of elite Israeli troops in populated areas of Gaza to carry out specific missions, such as locating and killing Hamas leaders, rescuing hostages and dismantling Hamas tunnels.
"I want them to focus on how to save civilian lives, not to stop going after Hamas, but to be more careful," Biden said, again calling for the protection of Gazan civilians. According to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 18,000 people have been killed during the war.
The Gaza operation is also taking a heavy toll on Israel. Since the beginning of the ground invasion, more than 115 soldiers have lost their lives and hundreds more have been wounded, some of them seriously. However, some 7,000 Hamas terrorists are believed to have been eliminated during the operation. Similarly, the entry of Israeli troops into Gaza has allowed the bodies of hostages killed by the terrorist group to be recovered and returned to Israel.
Despite US pressure, Israel has reiterated that the IDF will continue the military offensive in Gaza until the terrorist group is totally defeated. This could be "several months" from now, IDF intelligence chief Aharon Haliva admitted during a visit to troops in Gaza. Haliva therefore urged soldiers to "continue to put pressure on the enemy".
These comments by the Israeli army intelligence chief coincide with recent remarks by Defence Minister Yoav Gallant during his meeting with Sullivan. Gallant warned that the war with Hamas will last "more than several months", as Hamas is a terrorist organisation that "built itself for a decade to fight Israel, and they built infrastructure underground and above ground and it is not easy to destroy it".
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant tells visiting US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan that the war against Hamas in Gaza will take “more than several months.” pic.twitter.com/JCmOmWO6F5
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 14, 2023
As the defence minister said, the war "will take a period of time, it will last more than several months". "But we will win and we will destroy them," Gallant said. In recent days, hundreds of terrorists have surrendered to the IDF at various points in the Palestinian enclave.
Impresionante---unos 70 terroristas armados salieron del hospital Kamal Adwan en Gaza y entregaron sus armas. Gran cantidad de armas en un hospital. Eso no es sólo una base de terror contra Israel. Es una tración a la población civil palestina. pic.twitter.com/ZNYTOpXAAE
— Jana Beris (@JanaBeris1) December 14, 2023
During his meeting with Sullivan and other senior Israeli officials, the operation in Gaza and the fight against Hamas were discussed. In this regard, a senior US official stressed that the days of the leader of the Islamist organisation in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, are "numbered". Sinwar, for whom Israel is offering a $400,000 reward, is believed to have fled northern Gaza at the start of the war by hiding in a humanitarian convoy heading south.
The IDF distributed flyers in Gaza offering a bounty to anyone with information on key Hamas leaders. $400,000 for Yahya Sinwar. pic.twitter.com/MIlKcWwy9g
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) December 14, 2023
Most Israeli political leaders reject two-state solution
US pressure seems to matter little to Israeli leaders, especially Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has again stressed that Israel will continue its operation "until victory". The head of Hebrew diplomacy, Eli Cohen, has also stressed that the war will go on "with or without international support".
Despite this, Jerusalem admits some discord between Israel and the US, not only over the current operation, but also over how the Gaza Strip will be governed after the war.
Washington advocates a two-state solution, which is rejected by several Israeli political leaders, not only Netanyahu and other members of the war cabinet, including Benny Gantz, but also opposition leader Yair Lapid - who did come to support the idea - according to The Times of Israel based on four Israeli and US officials.
"A two-state solution after what happened on October 7 is a reward for Hamas," said one of the sources, referring to the terrorist group's attack that left 1,200 killed and some 240 kidnapped. "Netanyahu is the one who says it loud and clear, but at the moment there is really no enthusiasm across the Israeli political spectrum for the idea of two states," he added.
For this reason, Israeli leaders have privately asked the Biden administration to refrain from speaking publicly about the initiative.
Thank you US National Security Adviser @JakeSullivan46, for your steadfast commitment to the security of the people and State of Israel.
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) December 15, 2023
In our discussion today, we spoke about the urgent need to return the hostages held by Hamas, as well as Israel’s duty and right to defend… pic.twitter.com/31DBOGrrbN
In this regard, Israel's President Isaac Herzog also stressed that now is not the time to address the two-state solution in an interview with the Associated Press. "Why? Because we have an emotional chapter to deal with. My nation is in mourning. My nation is traumatised," Herzog laments, adding that it is necessary to "deal with the emotional trauma" and achieve a "sense of security for all people".
