Sullivan: Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza will take time, is phased

The IDF’s military campaign to oust Hamas from Gaza will take time and will occur in phases, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters in Tel Aviv on Friday amid speculation that the White House wants Israel to wrap up the war.

“The fight against Hamas, a deeply entrenched terrorist group in Gaza, is going to take time and will happen in phases,” Sullivan said, as he defended Israel’s right to battle the terror group.

There is no contradiction between the two things,” he said. “When Israel launched this campaign to root out the terror threat, it made clear the war would proceed in phases,” said Sullivan.

Some of those phases include targeting of Hamas leadership and intelligence operations, he explained.Sullivan spoke with reporters after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, President Isaac Herzog, and Minister Benny Gantz.

Media attention has focused this week on US President Joe Biden's sharp criticism of Israel, in which he accused it of indiscriminately bombing Gaza and asked it to do more to focus on protecting Palestinian civilian lives.

Sullivan described a situation in which there was broad agreement between the US and Israel about the importance of destroying Hamas and the protracted nature of the campaign, even as there were disagreements over the process.

Discussions between Israel and the US

The conversation between Israel and the US about a timeline for the Gaza war, Sullivan said, has to take place in private. He has been blunt about the fact that he is talking with Israel about the transition from high to low intensity. It is a discussion that US Defense Secretary  Lloyd Austin will continue when he arrives next week, he said.

“We will work together in partnership, in coordination, and will continue to supply our ideas,” he said.

It is important, Sullivan said, for the IDF to make a distinction in its battle between innocent Palestinians and Hamas. Israel has been clear that this is its goal as well.  

Sullivan also addressed plans for Gaza once the war is over. He clarified that “Israel doesn’t have a long-term plan to occupy Gaza - and that ultimately the control of Gaza has to transition to the Palestinians.”

“The US position on this is clear,” Sullivan said. “We do not believe that it makes sense for Israel to reoccupy Gaza over the long term,” Sullivan said.

A transition would need to occur in which control of Gaza was handed over to a revamped and revitalized Palestinian Authority.

The timing and the context of that transition has yet to be decided upon, he said.

Later in the day, Sullivan met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, during which he accused the IDF of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

He pressed for the opening of the Israeli crossings into Gaza to speed up the delivery of humanitarian aid to the enclave, in which, according to the UN, most of the 2.3 million population is displaced.

The US must ensure that the Israeli army stops its violent actions against Palestinians in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, Abbas said as he accused the IDF of ethnic cleansing. He spoke amid a sharp increase in Palestinian deaths during clashes with the IDF as it clamps down on terror in that region.

Abbas clarified that in the future Gaza must be part of a Palestinian state, that is united with the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

The war was sparked by Hamas' October 7 infiltration into southern Israel, during which it killed over 1,200 people and seized some 250 hostages. Hamas has asserted that close to 19,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza war related violence, with Israel claiming that at least 7,000 of them were combatants.