Biden wants focus on saving lives

TEL AVIV: The United States has told the Israeli government to end its large-scale ground invasion in Gaza by the end of 2023 and move to a more targeted phase in its war against Hamas, The New York Times reported.

The Times reported that, according to four senior US officials, the Biden administration told the Israeli government it wanted the next phase to involve the use of elite Israeli forces undertaking more precise missions. This would involve forces moving in and out of the population centres of Gaza to carry out attacks on Hamas leaders and the tunnel network, and to rescue hostages.

Asked if he wanted Israel to scale back its assault on Gaza by the end of the year, US President Joe Biden said: ‘‘I want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives; not stop going after Hamas, but be more careful.’

The report came as US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with Israeli leaders to discuss a timetable for winding down major combat in the Gaza Strip. Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, however, said it would take months to destroy Hamas, predicting a drawn-out war even as his country and the US face increasing international isolation and alarm over the devastation from the campaign in Gaza.

Israeli leaders repeated their determination to pursue the military assault until they crush the militant group for its October 7 attack.

The exchange seemed to continue a dynamic the two allies have been locked in for weeks. The Biden administration has shown unease over Israel’s failure to reduce civilian casualties and its plans for the future of Gaza, but the White House continues to offer wholehearted support for Israel with weapons shipments and diplomatic backing. Meanwhile, aside from small adjustments, Israel has changed little in what has been one of the 21st century’s most devastating military campaigns, with a mounting death toll.

The Prime Minister of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, Mohammed Shtayyeh, said it was time for the US to deal more firmly with Israel, particularly on Washington’s calls for postwar negotiations for a two-state solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a phone call with Biden during which he told the US president that a quick ceasefire for Gaza would be possible if Washington withdrew its ‘‘unconditional’’ support for Israel

During the call, Erdogan also said ensuring a lasting ceasefire in the region was America’s ‘‘historic’’ responsibility, according to a statement from the Turkish presidential communications directorate.

‘‘The deepening and prolongation of Israel’s attacks may have negative regional and global consequences,’’ the statement quoted Erdogan as telling Biden.

‘‘Now that the United States has talked the talk, we want Washington to walk the walk,’’ Shtayyeh said a day before he and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas were to meet Sullivan.

A deadly Hamas ambush on Israeli troops in Gaza City this week showed the group’s resilience and called into question whether Israel can defeat it without wiping out the entire territory.

The campaign has flattened much of northern Gaza and driven 80 per cent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million from their homes. Displaced people have squeezed into shelters mainly in the south in a spiralling humanitarian crisis.

Gallant said Hamas has been building military infrastructure in Gaza for more than a decade, ‘‘and it is not easy to destroy them’’.

‘‘It will last more than several months, but we will win, and we will destroy them,’’ he said.

The Palestinian telecommunications provider Paltel said that all communication services across Gaza were cut off due to ongoing fighting, severing the besieged territory from the outside world.

Heavy fighting has raged for days in areas around eastern Gaza City that were encircled earlier in the war. Tens of thousands of people remain in the north despite repeated evacuation orders, saying they don’t feel safe anywhere in Gaza, or fear they may never be allowed to return to their homes if they leave.

The military released footage showing Israeli troops leading a line of dozens of men with their hands above their heads out of a damaged building it said was the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the north Gaza town of Beit Lahia. Men brought out four assault rifles and set them on the street along with several ammunition magazines.

In the video a commander said militants had fired on troops from the hospital, and that troops were evacuating those inside while detaining suspected militants. Earlier in the week a Gaza Health Ministry official said weapons inside belong to the hospital’s guards. Neither side’s claims could be independently verified.

Israeli troops have held the hospital since Tuesday, according to the Health Ministry and UN. During that time 70 medical workers and patients were detained, including the hospital director, they said.