The White House said that Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer is discussing with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli officials told Axios that the Israeli minister’s discussions would address plans to reduce the war and move to a low-intensity operation in Gaza.
The website added – quoting Israeli officials – that Tel Aviv is expected to begin reducing its operation in Gaza by the end of next January.
For his part, Israeli Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy said yesterday, Tuesday, that the war launched by Israel on the Gaza Strip will likely continue for several months.
Halevy added that the army is close to completing the dismantling of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades in the northern Gaza Strip, and that they are currently focusing their efforts in the south, specifically the city of Khan Yunis and the central camps, as he put it.
In another context, France strongly renewed its call for an immediate truce leading to a ceasefire, and expressed its concern about the Israeli authorities’ announcement of the intensification and prolongation of the fighting in Gaza, while the systematic bombing operations – according to a statement by the French Foreign Ministry – caused many civilian casualties. .
It called for respect for international humanitarian law at all times and in all places. The French Foreign Ministry also called on Israel to take concrete measures to protect the lives of the civilian population in Gaza, and to facilitate the delivery of aid throughout the Gaza Strip.
The ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip since October 7, until Tuesday, left 20,915 martyrs and 54,918 wounded, most of them children and women, massive infrastructure destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, according to the Strip authorities and the United Nations.
