US urges Israel to tone down Gaza war, Netanyahu vows victory

The United States urged Israel to tone down its military campaign in Gaza as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged that the IDF would continue its war until Hamas was defeated.

“We are not saying let your foot up off the gas completely and don’t keep going after Hamas,” US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday when pressed on tensions between the two allies about Gaza.

Hamas “is still a viable threat,” and Israel has "every right and responsibility to go after that,” Kirby said, adding, “We believe the time is coming here very soon for a transition to a low-intensity phase.”

100 days 

He spoke as Israel marked its 100th day since the Hamas-led October 7 infiltration into southern Israel in which over 1,200 people were killed and some 250 were seized as hostages.

The Biden administration has strongly supported Israel’s military campaign to destroy Hamas sparked by the war, but it's a backing that has been fraught with tensions over the high Palestinian casualty count, the delivery of humanitarian aid, and plans for Gaza once the war is completed.

IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that the army is “not going to withdraw from Khan Yunis or anywhere else” in Gaza, adding that “military action takes time.”

No clear timeline

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that “one of the things that has become clear beyond all doubt is that we must conduct this war and it will yet take many months.”

It’s a stance that has concerned the US, given the absence of an end date and concern that it might not be possible to totally defeat Hamas. The tensions with the US have been accompanied by public outrage over the absence of a second hostage deal for the release of some 136 captives. One hundred and five captives were freed in an initial deal in November. Another four were released separately and one was freed by the IDF.

Hamas has insisted that any deal must include an end to the war, while Israel has said that only military pressure will secure their release, a strategy that seemed to lead to the first release but which has failed to secure a second one.

The US has sworn to do everything in its power to return the captives but has preferred to seek their freedom through diplomacy, as it urges Israel to transition faster from a high to a low-intensity campaign.

The Biden administration has been particularly concerned by Hamas assertions that close to 24,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza war-related violence. Israel has claimed that over 8,000 of those fatalities are Hamas combatants.

“We are certainly not walking away from the need to reduce civilian casualties,” Kirby said.

He stressed that the Biden administration has been speaking with Israel “intensely about a transition to low-intensity operations. We believe it is the right time for that transition, and we are talking to them about doing that.”

Israel has taken “some precursory steps to try to get to that point. They are pulling some troops out, they are relying a little less on airstrike.”

What needs to happen next, Kirby said, is “more targeted more precise raids” and “less airstrikes.”

During a visit to the IDF’s Judea and Samaria Division, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the the army “will not stop until we dismantle the capabilities of this organization, all over Gaza. 

“We have declared war on Hamas in Judea and Samaria, in Lebanon - wherever it may be necessary.” He stressed that when it comes to the West Bank, “I would like to emphasize: a strong Palestinian Authority is an Israeli security interest.”