National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan held discussions with Israeli officials regarding a shift in their strategy in Gaza towards conducting precise operations against Hamas, moving away from widespread ground campaigns, as Palestinians reported violent attacks along the coastal strip on Friday. Residents, authorities, and media sources indicated that Israeli tanks and aircraft have intensified their bombardment of northern Gaza, as well as Khan Younis and Rafah in the south.
Palestinian health officials reported that four people, including two children, were killed and others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a house in Khan Younis early Friday morning. The Palestinian official news agency (Wafa) stated that Israeli airstrikes overnight on Khan Younis and Rafah resulted in numerous casualties. It added that one of the strikes hit a residential area near the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah.
A live broadcast from southern Gaza taken from Israel after dawn on Friday showed thick black smoke rising from the area, with the cause of the smoke not immediately known. The Israeli special forces announced today that they had found the body of hostage Ilya Tolidano, 28, whom Hamas had held since October 7 after abducting him from a music festival. The military stated that “identification procedures” were conducted by medical officials, military rabbis, and forensic experts.
Israel has been bombarding the 40-kilometer-long Gaza Strip with no signs of a ceasefire or reduction in fighting that would allow crucial supplies for civilians to survive after their homes were destroyed. Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza in response to an attack by Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) fighters across the border on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 Israelis and the capture of 240 hostages, according to Israeli statistics. Israeli forces have besieged the coastal strip, turning much of it into rubble, with nearly 19,000 people confirmed killed, according to Palestinian health officials, while concerns remain about thousands more who may be trapped under the debris.
During his visit to Israel on Thursday, Jake Sullivan discussed moves to shift attacks on Gaza towards less intensive operations focused on high-value targets; however, a senior U.S. official told reporters that providing specific timelines for such a change would be “irresponsible.” The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, noted that "discussions occurred in these meetings and in our previous meetings, as well as in phone calls between the president and the prime minister, about some kind of shift in focus from rapid-fire clearance operations and high-intensity clearing operations, which are currently taking place, to ultimately a less intense focus on high-value targets and intelligence-driven raids, with more specific and precise military objectives."
**Discussions on Hostage Release**
The official reported that Sullivan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had extensive discussions on efforts to rescue the remaining hostages in Gaza. He added that there was broad agreement that the strip should soon be under Palestinian leadership. The official remarked, "It was never expected that large-scale ground clearing operations would continue indefinitely."
The official also stated that Sullivan emphasized the crucial need to protect civilians, with Israeli defense officials providing detailed briefings on the "extraordinary efforts" they are making to try to separate civilians from Hamas. Israel claims that Hamas uses civilians and civilian buildings as shields, which the movement denies.
Washington has pressured Israel for weeks to do more to safeguard the 2.3 million residents of Gaza. When asked whether President Joe Biden wanted Israel to reduce its attacks on Gaza by the end of the year, he responded, "I want them to focus on how to save civilian lives, not to stop pursuing Hamas, but to be more careful."
Sullivan stated in an interview with Israeli television that there is a need to connect the occupied West Bank and Gaza under the leadership of a reformed and strengthened Palestinian Authority. An American official noted that Sullivan plans to discuss the Palestinian Authority and hold extremist Jewish settlers accountable for acts of violence against Palestinians when he meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Friday.
Protests led by a Jewish organization calling for a ceasefire in the Israeli war on Gaza took place on Thursday in eight American cities coinciding with the eighth night of the Jewish holiday Hanukkah, blocking streets and bridges in Washington and Philadelphia. Protesters held signs that read, "Let Gaza Live" and "Not in Our Name."
Israeli forces killed a young man in a hospital and soldiers recited Jewish prayers in a mosque in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank during raids that Palestinian authorities reported resulted in 12 deaths, while Israel claimed it apprehended dozens of militants. The Palestinian government condemned the Jenin operation as a "serious escalation" and criticized Israeli forces for desecrating the mosque, stating it inflames religious tensions. The Israeli military announced it would take disciplinary action against the soldiers involved.
