Four senior US officals have confirmed that the Biden administration has asked Israel to end the large-scale campaign against Hamas and move to a more targeted operation by the end of 2023.
The US plan for the second stage of the operation involves extensive use of special forces to conduct precise raids inside Gaza and at locating and eliminating Hamas leaders, rescuing hostages, and continuing to destroy the prolific network of terror tunnels the organization has built..
US national security advisor Jake Sullivan visited Israel today and outlined the timeline for the proposed second phase in meetings with Israeli officials.
The calls for a change in tactics come on the background of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's announcement that the war would take several more months. Minister Gallant reiterated Israel's commitment to destroying hamas, and reminded Sullivan of the October 7th massacre and many hostages that had fomented the war.
The US officials claimed they accepted Israel's commitment, but that differences of opinion were growing regarding the manner in which Israel was conducting its war and the plans for post-war rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip.
According to the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, President Biden is calling for the large scale ground campaign to end within three weeks, or soon after.
They likewise emphasized that there was no instruction or demand by the US to make the transition. Israel has in the past changed stances regarding Gaza based on the Biden administrations's advice, allowing humanitarian measures to begin shortly after rejecting them outright.