US, Israeli defense chiefs to meet as tensions rise over Gaza war

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant later today and discuss ways to defeat Hamas other than conducting a ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, the Pentagon says, at a time of rising tensions between the two countries.

Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, tells reporters that Austin’s planned morning meeting with Gallant is still on, even though Israel abruptly canceled the visit of a high-level delegation to Washington this week to discuss the Rafah operation.

The two trips were planned separately. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to send his top aides but canceled the visit in protest over Monday’s UN Security Council decision calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The US abstained, deciding not to use its veto power, and the resolution passed 14-0.

“There are ways to go about addressing the threat of Hamas, while also taking into account civilian safety. A lot of those are from lessons, our own lessons, conducting operations in urban environments,” Ryder says. “I would expect the conversations to cover those kinds of things.”

Israel says it cannot defeat Hamas without going into Rafah, where it says the group has four battalions composed of thousands of fighters. The city is also serving as shelter for over a million people displaced by fighting elsewhere in the enclave