Israel tells US it needs 'months' to defeat Hamas | Israel-Gaza war | The Guardian
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Defence minister addresses US national security adviser as Biden administration presses for end to war
Israel will fight on until "absolute victory against Hamas", the country's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told a senior official from the Biden administration, as another minister said the war could last "more than several months".
Netanyahu's comments were made to Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden's national security adviser, during a visit to Israel hours after its defence minister, Yoav Gallant, told Sullivan that many more months were needed to defeat Hamas in Gaza.
A statement from Netanyahu's office said: "I told our American friends - our heroic fighters have not fallen in vain. From the deep pain of their falling, we are more determined than ever to continue to fight until Hamas is eliminated - until absolute victory."
Gallant earlier told Sullivan, apparently contradicting bullish daily updates from Israel's military about the progress of its campaign, that the war "will require a period of time - it will last more than several months". He said Hamas had "built infrastructure under the ground and above the ground and it is not easy to destroy them".
Netanyahu met Sullivan and two other senior US officials along with other members of his war cabinet at the headquarters of Israel's defence ministry, the Kirya, in Tel Aviv.
The comments were also a clear rebuff to the Biden administration, which has been pressing Israel to wind down its offensive, after the US president warned earlier this week that Israel was losing international support.
Before his trip, Sullivan had told a Wall Street Journal event that he would discuss a timetable to end the war and urge Israeli leaders "to move to a different phase from the kind of high-intensity operations that we see today".
After his meeting with Gallant, Sullivan declined to give details of the talks, but described the conversation as constructive and said there was a "wide degree of convergence" on strategic objectives and steps needed.
Speaking to Israel's Channel 12 TV station, Sullivan said the Gaza Strip should be brought under a "revamped and revitalised" Palestinian Authority - another point of contention between Washington and Tel Aviv.
Netanyahu has said there is "disagreement" with Washington over how Gaza would be governed after the war and suggested Israel would retain "overall security responsibility" for the territory.
A poll of Israelis, published on the day of Sullivan's visit, revealed widespread dissatisfaction with Netanyahu's handling of US-Israel relations during the war. About 43% disapproved of Netanyahu's treatment of Biden with 36% supporting, according to a Maariv/Jerusalem Post poll conducted this week.
International alarm is growing at the scale of the death toll in Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, which has already claimed more than 18,000 lives, and the humanitarian catastrophe engulfing the coastal strip where 85% of the population have been displaced by the conflict.
Biden, whose government has provided Israel with billions of dollars in military aid, delivered his sharpest rebuke of the war earlier this week when he said Israel's "indiscriminate bombing" of Gaza was eroding international support.
He returned to the theme on Thursday, telling reporters: "I want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives, not stop going after Hamas but be more careful."
The US has been pressing for a reduction in airstrikes as well as a major increase in humanitarian aid into Gaza. It has also pressed Netanyahu to explain his vision for how the war will end and how Gaza will be governed.
The meeting came as the UN said on Thursday that hunger and desperation were driving people to seize humanitarian aid being delivered to Gaza, warning of a "breakdown of civil order".
"Everywhere you go people are desperate, hungry and are terrified," said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, at a press conference in Geneva.
"We are teetering on the edge of a possible implosion. We might reach our limit. Why? Because there is more and more a breakdown of civil order."
Lazzarini, who has just returned from Gaza, said he saw people stopping aid trucks to take food and immediately eat it - something he described as "completely new" in the Palestinian territory.
But he said he hadn't heard of any UN or UNRWA trucks being hijacked by Hamas as claimed by Israel.
As Sullivan began his visit, CNN's Clarissa Ward became the first foreign journalist to reach Gaza and report independently from the country's south, apparently accessing the strip from Egypt, which had been blocking journalists from crossing into Gaza.
Israel has allowed journalists to enter Gaza only when embedded with the Israel Defense Forces. Egypt had, until now, acceded in Israel's exclusion of foreign media.
Despite the bellicose rhetoric from Netanyahu and his ministers, however, pressure is mounting rapidly on Israel.
With many of the 1.8 million displaced people living in makeshift shelters in Gaza's south amid shortages of food and medicines, and rapidly spreading disease, Washington and other capitals have been increasing pressure on Israel to wrap up major fighting by the end of December.
Sullivan's meetings in Israel follow the disclosure that the IDF distributed flyers in Gaza offering substantial rewards for information on the whereabouts of Hamas's top leaders - including a $400,000 (£310,000) price on the head of Hamas's political leader, Yahya Sinwar, and $100,000 for the capture of its military leader, Mohammed Deif.
The war, now in its third month, began after the Palestinian group's 7 October attacks on Israel that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
In response, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and launched a relentless bombardment and ground invasion that has left swathes of Gaza in ruins.
This week, the UN general assembly overwhelmingly supported a non-binding resolution for a ceasefire, which Washington voted against.
Underlining the scale of the humanitarian issue facing Gaza, Lazzarini said on Wednesday that Palestinians were "facing the darkest chapter of their history".
He said they were "now crammed into less than one-third" of the territory, and suggested there could be an exodus to Egypt, "especially when the border is so close".
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A poll of Israelis, published on the day of Sullivan's visit, revealed widespread dissatisfaction with Netanyahu's handling of US-Israel relations during the war. About 43% disapproved of Netanyahu's treatment of Biden with 36% supporting, according to a Maariv/Jerusalem Post poll conducted this week.
This situation will becoming to a head soon.
Exactly, unlike Israelis who are widely dissatisfied with their government decisions, Palestinians are very happy with Hamas.
What a horror Hamas has caused and brought down upon the people for whom they were responsible. Is this what they intended?
In a way it is, I suspect that they felt that Hezbollah and Iran would join in for an all-out war on Israel.
Chances are Hezbollah was; but Hezbollah hates Hamas- and won't do anything to aid them.
Hezbollah is probably hoping to make inroads into the West Bank and especially Gaza with Hamas being weakened so much.
Why are we sending billions to Israel? Why is 3/4 of our navy bobbing in the ME taking pot shots from Houthi drones and Hezbollah missiles, in a show of force trying to keep Hezbollah and Iran out of the war?
It is obvious Israel doesn't need US help; and doesn't value us- just our military equipment and money.
Gen. Alexander Haig and Adm. Elmo Zumwalt stated, “Israel is the largest U.S. aircraft carrier, which does not require American soldiers on board, cannot be sunk and is deployed in a most critical region—between Europe-Asia-Africa and between the Mediterranean-Red Sea-Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf—sparing the U.S. the need to manufacture, deploy and maintain a few more real aircraft carriers and additional ground divisions, which would cost the U.S. taxpayer some $15 billion annually.”
LINK ->
Sorry, your "air craft" carrier costs too damn much money; and can't be steered.
Money would be better spent in the US taking care of our broken roads, bridges, rail lines, and air ports.
I am not for any US money going to the PA, Hamas, or Hezbollah either. For all I care all factions involved can be reduced to throwing rocks at each other.
Good math on your part. Spend 15 billion instead of 6 billion for the same purpose. No wonder America's deficit is soaring to the sky.
Biden should just shut up stay out of it.
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His speaking is breathing new life into Hamas. They were counting on public opinion waning for Israel and Joe let them know Israel's biggest supporter is doing just that. Now Hamas figures if they can just hang on a couple more weeks things will change for them.
Not Brandon's finest moment.
From the article:
Seems that the Israelis are not happy with Netanyahu.
And Americans aren't satisfied with Biden.
Israel can elect someone else just like we can.
I am not sure what that really means and would need more information of what "treatment of Biden" means to the people being polled.
As for Netanyahu in general it would seem many Israelis at least partially blame him for the security lapse that allowed Oct 7th to happen in the first place so I would not be surprised if his polling was pretty weak.
I would be interested to see a poll in Israel if they think the utter destruction of Hamas is something they agree with or if they think a cease fire is something they could support..
In the last poll that I remember Netanyahu favorability rating was around 21%. As for the destruction or cease-fire I cannot find anything new on that (the last week or so).
Why should he? He is doing the same thing that Reagan did in 1982/3.
And Nixon in 1973, after the horrific surprise attack on Israel, the IFD responded and had the Egyptian Army surrounded in the Sinai and were only a few miles from Damascus. Nixon called them off.
US Presidents have to routinely save Arabs after the Arabs have ineffectively provoked Israel.
one of Nixon's bad decisions
The difference between Nixon's decision/action and that of Reagan and Biden is that the latter two stopped Israelis from the bombing and killing of civilians.
Perhaps, I'm not sure what would have happened if they had continued to Damascus and Cairo.
Your definition of "provoked" leaves a lot to be desired. Funny how most in the US only know the Israeli side of history.
Both sides have done more than their fair share of "provoking"; only one is receiving military and financial aid every year to the tune of billions of dollars.
Want to argue which side that is?
I am sure Israel can exist just fine on it's own.
It can also deal with the UN and UN Security council on it's own as well.