Intense fighting until January
US “deeply concerned” about development of Gaza ground offensive
December 6, 2023, 4:27 a.m
Listen to article
This audio version was artificially generated. More info | Send feedback
Israel escalates fighting in Gaza and advances into Khan Yunis. Our partner USA is observing the developments with concern and is clearly calling for more efforts to protect civilians. The Biden government assumes that the war will last until next year.
According to a media report, the US government assumes that the current phase of the Israeli ground offensive in the southern Gaza Strip will last several more weeks. Like the US television network CNN Citing several senior U.S. government officials, Israel may move in January to a “less intense, more localized strategy” targeting specific Hamas terrorists and leaders.
The White House is “deeply concerned” about how Israeli operations will develop in the coming weeks, an unnamed senior administration official was quoted as saying. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently called on Israel’s leadership in clear terms to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip. The numerous deaths among the civilian population and the displacement on a scale seen in northern Gaza must not be repeated in the south.
The US has made it clear to Israel that the time available to Israel for military action in its current form and for maintaining international support is rapidly dwindling, CNN said. World public opinion is increasingly turning against the current ground offensive, in which thousands of civilians are being killed, the broadcaster reported.
USA insists on more aid deliveries
From the US perspective, Israel must also seek more aid for the Gaza Strip. “Not enough is being done at the moment,” said US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller in Washington. “The amount of aid coming in is not sufficient. It needs to be increased, and we have made that clear to the Israeli government,” Miller said. “There’s not enough fuel, there’s not enough food, there’s not enough water coming in,” the spokesman continued. According to the UN, around 100 trucks carrying aid supplies are currently arriving in the Gaza Strip every day. That is less than during the ceasefire that expired last Friday, explained Miller.
Israel’s army recently expanded its attacks in the sealed-off Gaza Strip and is now encircling the largest city in the south of the coastal strip, Khan Yunis. At the request of the army, hundreds of thousands of people seeking protection had previously fled from the hitherto fiercely contested north to the southern part of the coastal area.
The war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, carried out by the Islamist Hamas and other terrorist groups on October 7th in Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip. More than 1,200 people were killed. Israel believes that 137 hostages are still in the hands of the terrorists. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, more than 16,200 people have now been killed in the Israeli attacks.