US pushes Israel ‘shift’ in Gaza attacks, but details scarce

U.S. President Joe Biden and top national security adviser Jake Sullivan have discussed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scaling back Israel’s high-intensity operations in Gaza, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday.
The focus on a “shift” in strategy is the latest in a weeks-long pressure campaign from Washington to do more to protect Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, where nearly 19,000 people have been killed, according to Palestinian health officials, in Israel’s retaliation to the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas.
Sullivan told Israel’s Channel 12 television that he had “constructive” talks with Netanyahu about Israel shifting to a more precise and targeted phase of the operations, but declined to give details or a timeline for the change.
The New York Times reported Thursday that the U.S. was pushing for a shift to occur by the end of the year.
Asked about that time frame, Biden replied: “I want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives, not stop going after Hamas, but be more careful.”