Israel will pursue its war against Hamas "until absolute victory", Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told visiting White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Thursday, according to a statement from Netanyahu's office.
Netanyahu said he spoke with Sullivan about regional threats, including Iranian proxies Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthis in Yemen, securing the return of hostages being held by Hamas, and the continuation of humanitarian aid for Gaza's civilian population, according to Reuters.
"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," the statement said.
Israel's war in Gaza needs to "transition to the next lower intensity phase in a matter of weeks, not months," Sullivan told Netanyahu and members of the war cabinet in a meeting on Thursday, Axios reported from two US and Israeli officials.
"National Security Adviser Sullivan made clear in all meetings that the high-intensity kinetic campaign needed to transition to the next lower-intensity phase in a matter of weeks not months. [This is not] a deadline and we understand the campaign must and will continue, but in a lower intensity manner," a senior US official told Axios.
The Times of Israel newspaper reported that Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday told the visiting US National Security Adviser that the military campaign against Hamas will not be completed within the next few months.
Hamas built itself “over a decade to fight Israel, and they built infrastructure under the ground and above the ground and it is not easy to destroy them,” Gallant said, according to a readout from his office.
Gallant and Sullivan discussed operational developments in Gaza, as well as tensions in the north with Hezbollah, according to the same newspaper.
