TEL AVIV (Agencies): The White House has stated that it is the right time for Israel to scale back its military offensive in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli leaders again vowed to press ahead with their operation against the territory’s ruling Hamas militant group.
The war in Gaza, launched by Israel in response to the unprecedented Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, has killed nearly 24,000 Palestinians, devastated vast swaths of Gaza, driven around 85 percent of the territory’s 2.3 million residents from their homes and pushed a quarter of the population into starvation.
Speaking on CBS, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the US has been speaking to Israel “about a transition to low-intensity operations” in Gaza. “We believe it’s the right time for that transition. And we’re talking to them about doing that,” he said on “Face the Nation”.