Israel continued to pound Gaza despite statements by a senior US official that Tel Aviv had agreed to end widespread bombing and ground operations and move toward precise targeting of Hamas.
Despite growing international calls for restraint, Israel continued its offensive in Gaza on Friday. Airstrikes across the Gaza Strip have killed dozens of people, according to local authorities.
The bombing took place after US national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“There will be a transition to another phase of this war, one that is more focused on targeting leaders and intelligence-led operations,” the US envoy told reporters in Tel Aviv after the meeting. .
However, he did not specify when this change would take place.
The United States agrees with Israel that the war on Gaza will last for months, Sullivan added, noting “intensive discussions” about future stages of the conflict and its consequences.
Washington is also working to free the remaining Israeli prisoners held in Gaza, he said.
“America saves face”
Sullivan will travel to the occupied West Bank later Friday to meet with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas. Sullivan told Netanyahu that it is not appropriate for Israel to occupy Gaza in the long term.
“We don’t think it makes sense or it’s right for Israel to occupy Gaza, to reoccupy Gaza in the long term. …Ultimately, control of Gaza, administration of Gaza and security of Gaza must pass into Palestinian hands.
Washington has suggested that after the war, the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, which oversees the West Bank, could play a role in governing Gaza in place of Hamas, something Sullivan could discuss with Abbas.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara claimed that “the world’s leading superpower of the last 70 years” is being humiliated by Israel.
“America has set some red lines: no reoccupation of Gaza, which is now not a long-term reoccupation of Gaza; no indiscriminate bombing. And then Sullivan comes to the area and says, ‘No, we understand,'” he said.
“Every time we talk about an argument, it involves Israel spitting and America saving face. It’s not exactly an equal relationship. The client continues to follow the client’s orders,” added Bishara.
The United States is a key military supporter of Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza, which has killed more than 18,700 Palestinians — most of them women and children. Israel launched the offensive after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people.
The United States has repeatedly vetoed UN Security Council resolutions calling for a ceasefire in the war, but has recently been more critical of the killings of Palestinian civilians by Israel, President Joe Biden on Thursday urged Israel to “focus on saving civilian lives” and “be more careful.”
Despite growing international calls for restraint, Israel continued its Gaza offensive on Friday and ended its longest raid in the occupied West Bank since the start of the war.
Hospitals in Deir el-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah reported an increase in casualties after early morning strikes.
In Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, an Israeli attack near a United Nations-run school killed at least 33 people, health authorities said.
In the eastern part of Rafah, also to the south, there were heavy exchanges of fire, Tel Aviv Tribune journalists reported.
The Israeli military also continued to target the occupied West Bank, where its raids and settler violence killed 289 Palestinians and injured 3,365.
In Jenin, in the West Bank, the Israeli army ended a raid against a refugee camp that began on Tuesday. At least 12 people were killed and more than 500 arrested, Tel Aviv Tribune journalists said, although some were released.
The United Kingdom and a dozen other countries – including Australia, Canada and France – called on Israel on Friday to take immediate and concrete steps to combat settler violence in the West Bank.
“This rise in extremist settler violence against Palestinians is unacceptable,” the two countries said in a joint statement issued by the British government.
“Proactive measures must now be taken to ensure the effective and immediate protection of Palestinian communities. »
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