US officials are anticipating a new phase of the Israel-Hamas war in the coming days in which Israel decreases the scale of its air campaign and focuses on a more tactical ground operation.
As humanitarian aid continues to flow into Gaza, a senior administration official told CNN on Friday the Biden administration expects that Israel’s air campaign will see “a decrease in what we’ve seen,” as well as “more of a tactical focus on the ground campaign” aimed at clearing the vast network of underground tunnel complexes out of which Hamas operates.
The administration, the official maintained, has been “very direct … about wartime decisions and being deliberate and asking hard questions” in discussions with Israel, even as the Israeli military has drawn international criticism over the targeting of the Jabalya Refugee Camp in Northern Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces claimed the strike was targeting a Hamas commander hiding in an underground bunker and that when the complex imploded it possibly collapsed nearby buildings.
Asked when the Biden administration might feel compelled to call for a ceasefire – something it has so far declined to do – the senior administration official said that given the scale and nature of Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7, a ceasefire was not appropriate.
“A terrorist group takes 200 hostages and kills 1,400 people and is hiding under tunnels, including the leaders – ceasefire is not really the word … to use,” the official told CNN.
The official reiterated that the US is actively calling on Israel to enact so-called humanitarian pauses, and that it is stressing to Israel that even as it has a right to defend itself, it must adhere to international humanitarian laws.
Ultimately, the official said, “a ceasefire I think depends on the Israelis feeling secure in ensuring that something…
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