Israel says fight with Hamas will last 'months' as US support wanes

GAZA STRIP — Israel pressed its offensive in the Gaza Strip on Friday after telling key backer the United States that the operation to crush Hamas will last "more than several months".

The conflict began after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on Oct 7 that Israeli officials say killed about 1,200 people.

According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, the conflict has killed more than 18,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

Late on Thursday in the southern city of Rafah near the Egyptian border, crowds of Palestinians used flashlights to search under the rubble of buildings for survivors following an Israeli strike.

"This is a residential neighborhood, women and children live here, as you can see. This residential neighborhood has been reduced to rubble," Abu Omar, who is living in Rafah, said.

"Three missiles on a residential neighborhood that has nothing to do with any militant activities."

Heavy fighting has also raged for days in Shijaiyah and other areas in and around eastern Gaza City that were encircled earlier. Tens of thousands of people remain in the north despite repeated evacuation orders, saying they do not feel that anywhere in Gaza is safe or fear they may never return to their homes.

While the US has strongly backed Israel's response to the Oct 7 attacks, it has pressed its ally to do more to minimize civilian casualties.

"We do not believe that it makes sense for Israel, or is right for Israel, to … reoccupy Gaza over the long term," US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Friday after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv.

Gallant warned that Israel's fight with Hamas "will require a period of time — it will last more than several months".

Civilian lives

In Washington, US President Joe Biden urged Israel to take more care to protect civilians in Gaza.

"I want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives — not stop going after Hamas, but be more careful," said Biden, whose government has provided Israel with billions of dollars in military aid.

Meanwhile, White House spokesman John Kirby said Washington was "not dictating terms" to Israel and that the timeline given by Gallant was "consistent" with what Israeli officials had previously said.

Netanyahu on Thursday vowed to carry on "until victory", and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said the conflict would continue "with or without international support".

Sullivan would head to the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday for talks with Palestinian Authority leaders, a US official said.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said in an interview on Thursday that the Biden administration must now "walk the walk" and take specific steps toward a two-state solution, including applying pressure on Israel.

The conflict in Gaza has led to increased popular support for Hamas in the West Bank, further weakening the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.

This week, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly supported a nonbinding resolution for a cease-fire in Gaza, with Washington voting against it.

The UN estimates 1.9 million of Gaza's 2.4 million people have been displaced. Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, warned Gaza risked a "breakdown of civil order".

Agencies - Xinhua