President Biden urges Israeli caution as leaders eye 'lower-intensity' war

By Jordan Fabian and Jennifer Jacobs

President Joe Biden urged Israel to “be more careful” in its military campaign in the Gaza Strip, as US officials acknowledged they discussed with their Israeli counterparts the war’s eventual shift from a high-tempo assault to more surgical operations targeting Hamas leaders that could limit civilian causalities. 

“I want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives, not stop going after Hamas,” Biden told reporters Thursday. 

The president’s remarks punctuated a fresh US push to persuade Israel to scale back the scope of its military strikes and adopt a vision for a post-war Gaza that includes the possibility of a Palestinian state. Biden spoke as US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is traveling to Israel, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia to lay out his administration’s goals. 

 

Sullivan met with Netanyahu earlier Thursday and pushed him to shift to “lower-intensity operations some time in the near future,” spokesman John Kirby said at a press briefing. Another US official said Israelis had discussed the conditions under which such a shift could occur, but said the parties were reluctant to put a timeline on a strategy change due to evolving conditions on the ground. 

The US and Israelis also addressed efforts to accelerate humanitarian assistance to Gaza, including direct deliveries from Israel — which the US expects to begin soon, the official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity, said Thursday. Talks also included an extended discussion of attempting to secure the return of hostages held by Hamas. 

Biden has delivered increasingly urgent appeals to Israel to exercise restraint in its Gaza offensive following Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack. Thousands of civilians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory strikes, which has sparked growing cease-fire calls in the US and abroad. 

Sullivan also plans to meet Friday in Ramallah with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and may visit additional countries in the region over the weekend. Those discussions are likely to focus on reforms the US and Arab allies would like to see from the Palestinian Authority to help sell the group as a credible administrator of post-war Gaza. 

Biden Says Netanyahu Must ‘Change’ or Lose Global Support 

The president on Tuesday described Israel’s bombing campaign as “indiscriminate” and said that while the US and European allies are still backing Israel, “they’re starting to lose that support.” 

Biden also criticized Netanyahu’s right-wing government for rebuking calls to support a two-state solution to the conflict with the Palestinians, saying it was further eroding international backing for Israel and hampering normalization efforts with the Arab world. 

But Israeli leaders have insisted that their campaign is necessary to wipe out Hamas following the attack. In talks, Israeli officials told Sullivan and other US advisers they wanted to ensure tunnels and fortresses built under Gaza’s civilian infrastructure would no longer be accessible. And, asked if the capture or death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was a necessary prerequisite to the end of the conflict, the US official said it was safe to assume his days are numbered. 

Still, the Israeli government has made it clear it does not intend to remain on the ground in Gaza indefinitely, the US official said. The official said Israel will largely dictate much of the outcome in post-war Gaza, but stressed there is broad agreement across the region that the territory’s future should be Palestinian-led.

Before traveling to Israel, Sullivan met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. The US had been discussing a sweeping agreement for the Saudis to establish formal ties with Israel in exchange for security guarantees from the US and assurances from the Israelis about preserving chances for a Palestinian state. 

Those talks were thrown off course by the attack by Hamas, which has governed Gaza since 2006 but is considered a terror organization by the US and European Union. 

Convincing Israel to move toward a two-state solution after the war will be a difficult task for Biden, not only because of Netanyahu’s opposition. Israeli President Isaac Herzog, whose role is largely ceremonial, said Thursday considering the idea while the nation’s pain from the Oct. 7 attack is still fresh is a non-starter. 

“What I want to urge is against just saying ‘two-state solution.’ Why? Because there is an emotional chapter here that must be dealt with. My nation is bereaving. My nation is in trauma,” Herzog said in an Associated Press interview.