US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser has called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to link the war in Gaza to a “political strategy” for the region’s future.
Jake Sullivan met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Saturday after meeting in Saudi Arabia.
His intervention came a day after wartime cabinet minister Benny Gantz threatened to resign if Mr. Netanyahu did not come up with a postwar plan for Gaza.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has so far not articulated his post-war vision, saying only that he is focused on “complete victory.”
However, political rifts have widened in Israel over the issue, with Gantz and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant insisting that Israel should not maintain military rule in Gaza, while Netanyahu’s coalition government Other factions, including far-right members, argue for continued control of Gaza. Defeat Hamas.
According to a White House statement, Sullivan “reaffirmed the need for Israel to link its military operations to a political strategy that can ensure the lasting defeat of Hamas, the release of all hostages, and a better future for Gaza.” said.
The US national security adviser also spoke about his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Saudi Arabia and the “opportunities that lie ahead for the Israeli and Palestinian people.”
The Biden administration is working on a deal that could include normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel and a commitment to pursue a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, a long-standing international formula for peace.
Meanwhile, fighting continues in Gaza. According to the United Nations, about 800,000 people, many of whom have been displaced multiple times during the seven-month war, have left the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, which Israel considers Hamas’ last stronghold in Gaza. A military operation was launched targeting the.
But the Israeli military has also launched an incursion targeting Hamas’ new presence in parts of northern Gaza, where it had previously said it had cleared the militants.
On Sunday, Gaza’s civil defense agency, run by Hamas, said 31 people were killed and 20 injured in an Israeli airstrike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
Witness Yasser Abu Oula told AFP that the entire apartment complex had been “destroyed” and that “there are still bodies under the rubble”.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was reviewing the report.
The Israel Defense Forces also said it had attacked dozens of targets in Gaza, including Rafah, and fought heavy fighting in Jabalia, north of Gaza. Two soldiers were killed in fighting in the south on Saturday, the newspaper said.
The United States has long warned Israel against a full-scale military invasion of Rafah without a plan to protect civilians, which the United States says has not been provided.
The White House has previously said it would cut off some weapons supplies if Israel launched a major ground attack on the city.
But Israeli officials told Reuters that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his senior aides would try to reach an agreement with Mr. Sullivan that a full-scale push toward Rafah was needed.
Prime Minister Netanyahu dismissed Gantz’s comments, saying they would lead to the “defeat of Israel” and the “establishment of a Palestinian state.”
Last year, Israel launched a military operation in the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas attacks on southern Israel, resulting in approximately 1,200 Hamas deaths and 252 hostages.
More than 35,456 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-controlled region’s health ministry.
