Israel launched its military operation in Gaza in retaliation for an offensive by Hamas, the Iran-backed group that rules Gaza, whose fighters killed 1,200 Israelis and seized 240 hostages in a cross-border attack on October 7.
Israeli forces have encircled the coastal strip and destroyed much of it, leaving nearly 19,000 people confirmed dead, and thousands more feared buried under debris, according to Palestinian health officials.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan discussed steps to shift Israel’s attacks on Gaza to lower-intensity operations focused on high-value targets during a visit to Israel on Thursday, but was not typical of such a shift. Giving a deadline would be “irresponsible”. , a senior administration official told reporters.
“In these meetings and in our previous meetings, and in the conversations between the President and the Prime Minister, there was discussion on emphasizing high-speed evacuation operations, high intensity evacuation operations, which are going on right now, ultimately the high-value To focus on low-intensity targets, intelligence-driven raids, and more narrow, surgical military objectives,” said the official, who asked not to be identified.