Washington Looks To Limit Israel’s War Aims as Resumption of Combat Against Hamas Appears Imminent

The Israel-Hamas war pause is about to end with the completion of the first stage of hostage releases, and as Israel contemplates a renewal of Gaza combat — perhaps as early as Saturday — America seems to be publicly leaning on its leaders to limit their war aims. Secretary Blinken arrived in Israel Thursday. As twice before, he sat in on a meeting of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s five-member war cabinet, where he reportedly demanded a timeline for ending the war and asked for restrictions on the Israel Defense Force’s maneuvering in southern Gaza.As he arrived, a terrorist attack at Jerusalem killed four Israelis and injured others. Two men opened fire on a bus stop, and were soon shot dead. Hamas took responsibility. For now neither side is defining the attack as a violation of the Gaza truce. A four-days ceasefire agreement to free Israeli hostages for three times as many Arab terrorists in Israeli prisons was initially approved by the Israeli government. It has been extended for seven days so far. “I hope we can get an eighth, ninth, tenth day, and beyond,” a spokesman for the National Security Council, John Kirby, told reporters.Yet, the initial agreement was that for each day without military activity, Hamas would release 10 hostages. On Thursday it released only eight women — and only after lengthy negotiations via Qatari and Egyptian intermediaries. The Israeli government has capped all extensions at 10 days, and that deadline ends Saturday at 7 a.m., Israel time.As the hostage diplomacy winds down, even Washington is preparing for renewal of the war, publicly demanding that the IDF limit military activities to confined areas in southern Gaza and, even more importantly, indicating that Washington’s support may weaken if the war lasts too long. “The entire Israeli society is united behind the goal of dismantling Hamas, even if it takes months,” the Israeli defense minister, Yoav Gallant, reportedly told Mr. Blinken during a meeting Thursday. “I don’t think you have the credit for that,” Mr. Blinken shot back. In a press conference later that day, Mr. Blinken said that Israel has the right to defend itself and assure that the October 7 attack can never be repeated. Yet, he added, “the way Israel defends itself matters.” It must secure more aid to Gaza, he said, minimize civilian casualties, and avoid further displacements inside the Strip. Israelis, in contrast, believe that unless the IDF deals a decisive blow to Hamas, no matter how long it takes, they could no longer survive in a neighborhood where force is a more common currency than humanitarian efforts. Many Arab leaders quietly support the goal of obliterating Hamas as well. Meanwhile, Hamas doesn’t hide its intentions. “The leaders of the occupation should know, October 7 was just a rehearsal,” its chief in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, said Thursday in his first public comment since the day of the terrorist attacks. To date Jerusalem has extended the truce despite clear Hamas violations of hostage-related agreements. In response to a question, Mr. Blinken said he would like to see the Red Cross visit hostages, many of whom are believed to be injured. Yet, Hamas, for now, is in control of hostage diplomacy. On Thursday, Yarden Bibas was shown in a video posted on a Hamas channel. In it he was purportedly informed that his wife and two children — 4-year-old Jordan and 10-month-old Kfir — were killed in an Israeli bombing. Such claims “are yet to be verified,” the IDF spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, told reporters. Baby Kfir and his family have become a worldwide symbol of Hamas’s October 7 cruelty. Since the start of the truce, 112 hostages, mostly children and women, were released in exchange for three times as many Arabs held in Israeli prisons on charges of attempting terrorist acts. Several more of the remaining 137 hostages could be released Friday, but Hamas seems to be running out of women and children to release.If a deal to extend the truce beyond Friday is to be agreed on it would likely entail the release of elderly men. In return, the terror organization is expected to demand the freeing of jailed terrorists over the age of 60, some of whom are convicted of killing Israelis and of masterminding major terrorist attacks. That demand is complicated following the Thursday terror attack at Jerusalem, because the two brothers who shot at the bus stop are Hamas members from eastern Jerusalem who had been released from Israeli prisons after serving time for terrorist activity. During a meeting with Mr. Blinken, “I told him this is the same Hamas, the Hamas that I have sworn to dismantle,” Mr. Netanyahu told reporters. In talks behind closed doors, Washington is reportedly more supportive of that goal than its press statements and leaks would indicate.Yet, a rift between the allies that is growing in front of television cameras is hardly helpful.

Washington Looks To Limit Israel’s War Aims as Resumption of Combat Against Hamas Appears Imminent

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