White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan arrived in Israel and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Joav Galant. On behalf of US President Joe Biden, he must influence Israel to wage war against Hamas with fewer civilian casualties. Galant, on the other hand, emphasized that “to destroy Hamas, we need more time than a few months. This will be a long war that we will win in the end.” At the same time, Galant thanked the US for its extensive military and diplomatic support.
After the meetings, Sullivan also met with the remaining members of the War Cabinet. Sullivan is discussing several issues with Israeli representatives: how long Israel still needs to wage war against Hamas, conditions for future negotiations on a new hostage agreement, how the humanitarian situation of the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza can be contained, and how Hezbollah can escape from Israel's northern border may be delayed.
US withholds weapons from Israel because of radical settlers
However, according to a newspaper report, the United States is hesitant to hand over more than 27,000 shotguns destined for the Israeli police. President Biden's administration is concerned that the weapons could end up in the hands of radical settlers in the West Bank, the Wall Street Journal wrote, citing unnamed administration officials.
Israel's previous assurances that the rifles – including the M4 and M16 models – would remain only with the police were therefore not sufficient. The US State Department therefore called for concrete measures to curb violence against Palestinians committed by settlers in the West Bank, the newspaper continued.
The US fears that violence in the West Bank could lead to conflicts across the Middle East region.
About 40 percent of Israel's ammunition is not precision-guided
According to information from CNN, around 40 to 45 percent of the air-to-ground munitions launched by Israel in the Gaza war are not precisely guided. The US broadcaster based its information on three unidentified sources who had seen a corresponding assessment from the Office of Intelligence Coordination in Washington, as the broadcaster reported yesterday (local time). According to the report, the remainder and therefore most of the ammunition fired so far has been precision guided.