The United States on Wednesday asked Israel to reduce the intensity of its war on Hamas in the "near future," as President Joe Biden urging it to take more care to save civilian lives in Gaza.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan made the push during talks in Tel Aviv with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials, discussing the war Israel launched after the October 7 attacks, reports AFP.
Washington has strongly backed Israel's right to defend itself, but mounting civilian casualties in the Palestinian territory have caused a growing rift between the close allies.
"I want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives -- not stop going after Hamas, but be more careful," Biden told reporters after an event at a medical research center near Washington.
The White House said earlier that Sullivan, Biden's top national security aide, had pushed Israel on the timing of the war after Israel's defense minister told him that the conflict would last several more months.
Sullivan "did talk about 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," spokesman John Kirby said.
"But I don't want to put a timestamp on it."
Kirby said that Washington was "not dictating terms" to Israel but that Sullivan had asked "hard questions" about the course of the offensive, while still backing the country.
"I think we all want it to end as soon as possible," Kirby told reporters, adding that the war "could end today" if Hamas backed down, but "that doesn't look likely right now."
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
