US President Joe Biden was asked on Thursday if he wanted Israel to scale back or tone down its attacks on Gaza by the end of the year.
"I want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives, not stop going after Hamas, but be more careful," he replied.
Biden’s comments came after four senior US officials confirmed that his 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.
The calls for a change in tactics come on the background of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's announcement, during a meeting with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, that the war would take several more months.
Gallant reiterated Israel's commitment to destroying Hamas, and reminded Sullivan of the October 7 massacre and the taking of hostages that led to the war.