A senior White House official confirmed on Friday that Washington is conducting an “ongoing dialogue” with Israeli leaders, asking them “difficult questions” about the method of choosing military targets in the Gaza Strip and the results of these choices.
The official, who preferred to remain anonymous, confirmed during statements to the media that the Israelis “largely reviewed their initial plan” in light of this dialogue, without going into details.
In the same context, the official stressed the need to reach a “significant cessation of the conflict” between Israel and Hamas, in order to release the movement’s hostages, whose number the Israeli army estimated at at least 240.
As the Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip intensified, the official spoke of “very serious discussions” currently taking place, but explained that “there is currently no agreement” on a ceasefire.
He added: “Let’s hope that we will have good news to provide during another telephone briefing, but unfortunately we cannot guarantee that.”
He pointed out that “no one knows” the exact number of hostages, adding that the number is “far more than 100 and perhaps more than 200.”
The official stressed that the release of such a large number of people “would require a fairly significant cessation of hostilities,” but warned that “there is absolutely no guarantee that this will happen or when it will happen.”
The official touched on the evacuations of civilians in the southern Gaza Strip, especially those who also hold foreign passports.
He said that Hamas initially presented a “list” of wounded Palestinians who needed to be evacuated, and it turned out that “a third” of them were “members and fighters” in the movement, describing this as “unacceptable.”
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2023-11-04 03:51:36
