US in ‘intensive’ talks on scaling back Israel’s military campaign in Gaza

CAIRO/GAZA - The United States is pushing Israel to focus the war in Gaza on

precise targeting of Hamas leaders

rather than widespread bombing and ground operations, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Dec 15, without saying when the shift would happen.

“There will be a transition to another phase of this war, one that is focused in more precise ways on targeting the leadership and on intelligence-driven operations,” Mr Sullivan told reporters in Tel Aviv.

Israel has so far resisted increasing global pressure to rein in an offensive that has killed almost 19,000 Palestinians.

Israel launched the war in retaliation against the

Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct 7

that killed 1,200 people and saw roughly 240 people taken hostage, Israeli officials say.

Israel has responded with more than two months of bombardment and a ground invasion of Gaza that have killed almost 19,000 people, according to Gazan health officials. Most of the territory’s 2.2 million people have been forced to flee their homes.

Israel’s top war targets include Mohammed Deif, who heads Hamas’ military wing and was the mastermind of the Oct 7 assault; his second-in-command, Marwan Issa; and Hamas’ leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.

Mr Sullivan said he discussed the timing of the transition in his meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s war Cabinet and military chiefs on Dec 14.

“When exactly that happens and under exactly what conditions will be a continuing intensive discussion between the United States and Israel,” he said.

Mr Sullivan said it would take months to achieve Israel’s objectives in the war, but that fighting would proceed in phases, with a shift from the current campaign of intense bombing and ground operations.

After the meetings, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said he told Mr Sullivan the war would last “more than several months”.

Washington has been pushing Israel for weeks to do more to protect civilians in Gaza.

US President Joe Biden, when asked whether he wanted Israel to scale back its assault on the Gaza Strip by the end of 2023, said: “I want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives, not stop going after Hamas but be more careful.”

Mr Sullivan said the US wants “to see the results” that match Israel’s assurances that it distinguishes between civilians and militants.

Clashes continue

Israeli forces and Hamas continued to battle fiercely throughout Gaza on Dec 15, suggesting Israel’s ground offensive was meeting stiffer resistance.

There were reports of clashes in the districts of Sheijaia, Sheikh Radwan, Zeitoun, Tuffah and Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, east of Maghazi in central Gaza, and in the centre and northern fringes of the main southern city of Khan Younis.

Hospitals in Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah reported a new influx of dead and wounded early on Dec 15, including two children. 

Four people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a house in Rafah, and Israeli tanks were shelling targets just east of the city near the Egyptian border, medics and witnesses said.

Israeli special forces said on Dec 15 they had recovered the body of hostage Elia Toledano, 28, who had been held by Hamas since Oct 7 after being taken from an outdoor music festival.

The Israeli military said in an update on Dec 15 that its forces destroyed a Hamas command and control hub in Gaza City’s Sheijaia district, conducted a “targeted raid” on militant infrastructure in Khan Younis, and bombed sites in Rafah that helped Hamas to smuggle weapons into Gaza.

The heavy fighting raised questions about whether Israel’s two-month-long aerial and ground blitz of Gaza has significantly weakened Hamas.

“The Gaza Strip turned into a ball of fire overnight. We could hear explosions and gunshots echoing from all directions,” Ahmed, 45, an electrician and father of six, told Reuters from a shelter in a central area of the enclave.

“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 said.

West Bank

Mr Sullivan said that in his talks with Mr Netanyahu on Dec 14, there was broad agreement that the future of Gaza should be Palestinian-led.

The occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip need to be connected under a “revamped and revitalised” Palestinian Authority government, he said.

Allies of Israel backing its war against Hamas have urged restraint, including punishing Israeli settlers in the West Bank accused of armed attacks on Palestinians.

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli troops killed a youth at a hospital and read Jewish prayers at a mosque in the city of Jenin during raids that the Palestinian authorities said on Dec 14 killed 12 people. Israel said it captured dozens of militants.

The Palestinian government criticised the operation inside Jenin as a “dangerous escalation” and, in a statement, said the desecration of the mosque by some Israeli troops fanned religious tension. Israel’s army said it would discipline the soldiers.

Palestinians see the West Bank as central to a future independent state.

Fallout

A Jewish group demanding a ceasefire held protests on Dec 14 in eight US cities on the eighth night of Hanukkah.

They blocked streets and bridges in Washington and Philadelphia, and held signs that read: “Let Gaza Live” and “Not in our name”.

With Europe on alert for militant threats linked to the war, the authorities in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands said seven people, including four suspected Hamas members, were arrested on suspicion of planning attacks on Jewish institutions.

Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri denied that Hamas members were arrested. He said the reports were meant to erode support for Palestinians in Europe.

In further possible international fallout from the war, Danish company Maersk said a cargo ship was targeted by a missile off Yemen.

A Maersk spokesperson said the vessel was not hit, denying a claim by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement that the militia made a drone strike on a Maersk vessel sailing towards Israel.

Maritime security company Ambrey said a Malta-flagged, Bulgarian-owned bulk carrier was reportedly boarded in the Arabian Sea near the Yemeni island of Socotra.

Yemen’s Houthi group, which has warned cargo ships in the Red Sea to avoid travel towards Israel, has attacked vessels and fired drones and missiles at Israel since the Gaza war began. REUTERS