From the Liveblog of
Thursday, December 14, 2023
Sullivan urged Israeli leaders to wrap up ‘high intensity’ fighting within weeks — officials
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
The Biden administration wants the IDF to wrap up the current phase of “high intensity” fighting in Gaza within weeks, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told Israeli leaders during meetings today in Tel Aviv, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
A second Israeli official says the US has pushed for the current phase to wrap up by the end of 2023.
There’s an understanding that the IDF will remain active in Gaza well beyond the end of the current phase, but Sullivan made clear that the US expects a “major roll back” in the intensity of the fighting within weeks, the Israeli official says, confirming reporting in the Walla news site.
Asked for comment on the matter, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says during a briefing that Sullivan “did talk about the possible transitioning from what we would call high intensity operations — which is what we’re seeing them do now — to lower intensity operations sometime in the near future.”
“But I don’t want to put a timestamp on that. The last thing we want to do is telegraph to Hamas what they’re likely to face in the coming weeks and months,” Kirby adds.
During his meetings in Tel Aviv, Sullivan also told Israeli officials that starting serious talks regarding the “day after” in Gaza will help buy the Biden administration more time to continue supporting the war, Walla reports, citing a senior US official.
Earlier in the day, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Sullivan in public remarks before their meeting that the IDF’s war against Hamas in Gaza will take “more than several months.” Gallant did not speak of different stages in the war when he made his comments.
The New York Times also reported that the US is pushing for Israel to end large-scale fighting by the end of the year.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office responded to the report saying that the premier “made it clear that Israel will continue the war until we complete all of its goals.”
