1 of 6 | An Israeli IDF 155mm self-propelled Howitzer fires a shall from a base in southern Israel into the Gaza Strip on Thursday. U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan was traveling to Israel to meet with leaders amid mounting pressure for a cease-fire to stem civilian deaths. Photo by Jim Hollander/UPI | License Photo
Dec. 14 (UPI) — U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan traveled to Israel on Thursday as pressure mounted over rising civilian casualties in Gaza after U.S. President Joe Biden warned Israel was beginning to lose international support for its war against Hamas.
Sullivan was holding “extremely serious conversations” with Israeli officials, including discussions on “efforts to be more surgical and more precise and to reduce harm to civilians,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Wednesday.
Axios reported, based on unnamed U.S. and Israeli officials, that Sullivan told Netanyahu that the military campaign has to “transition to the next lower intensity phase in a matter of weeks, not months.”
Sullivan met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and was expected to also meet with President Isaac Herzog and various military leaders.
In addition to discussing Israel’s war practices, Sullivan was also expected to discuss the release of hostages taken by Hamas, including eight Americans.
On his way to Israel, Sullivan met Wednesday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia, where they discussed efforts to broker peace between Israelis and Palestinians and efforts to deliver aid to Gaza, according to a White House readout of the conversation.
NSC Spokesperson Kirby told reporters Thursday that Sullivan talked “about possible transitioning from what we would call ‘high intensity operations sometime, you know, in the near future.”
Kirby did not put forth a timeframe saying, “I don’t want to put a timestamp on it.”
The trip comes amid a rift between Biden and Netanyahu over who will lead Gaza after the war and the deaths of civilians.
Biden warned on Wednesday that global support for Israel was starting to wane after more than 18,000 Palestinian civilian deaths.
“Israel’s security can rest on the United States, but right now it has more than the United States. It has the European Union, it has Europe, it has most of the world,” Biden said. “But they’re starting to lose that support by the indiscriminate bombing that takes place.”
In what appeared to be a response to Biden’s comment, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen brushed off the criticism.
“Israel will continue the war against Hamas, with or without international support,” he said.
On Thursday, the Palestine Red Crescent Society lost contact with its Gaza-based central 101 operation room.
“We feel extreme concern about the possibility of our teams continuing to provide emergency services,” the PRCS said in a statement.
CNN reports that on Thursday President Biden told reporters that he wanted the Israeli military “to be more focused on how to save civilian lives. Not stop going after Hams but be more careful.”