A statement from war cabinet minister Benny Gantz’s office says he told senior US officials that Israel was committed to reaching its goal of removing the Hamas terror group, as well as finding a way to get humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.
“Gantz iterated the imperative of completing the mission of removing the threat Hamas poses to Israel, finding a sustainable solution to ensuring humanitarian aid reaches civilians and not terrorist Hamas, and the importance of completing all of the operation’s military objectives in Gaza in a manner that enables stability and prosperity for the region entirely,” the statement reads.
The statement says Gantz also called for an international mechanism to run the aid operation, which he said could advance efforts to normalize with regional countries.
Gantz, who met with Vice President Kamala Harris, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Mideast envoy Brett McGurk and others, thanked the US for its support and for efforts to free hostages kidnapped on October 7, the statement says.
Gantz told Harris that Israel’s main goal was returning the hostages “and concluded by conveying his gratitude for the significant pressure the US is applying to advance the matter.”
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From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
