Austin takes firmer stance on Gaza war with Israel’s defense chiefs

TEL AVIV — Israel’s defense minister said plans were under discussion to narrow the focus of the war in Gaza but declined to reveal a timetable, despite a push by Washington to rely more on precision strikes against Hamas leadership in order to minimize civilian harm.

Speaking alongside US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Tel Aviv on Monday, Galant said Israeli forces had destroyed a majority of Hamas’ battalions in the northern Gaza Strip since invading the Palestinian enclave in force in late October.

But the Israeli defense minister did not publicly lay out what objectives he felt needed to be met before the IDF could effectively narrow the focus of the campaign, which has so far killed more than 19,000 Palestinians in the deadliest ten weeks of war in the conflict’s 75-year history.

Despite signaling reservations, Pentagon officials visiting in Israel this week indicated that the US remained fully behind Israel’s war against Hamas, which is approaching its third month and has risked sparking wider conflict across the region.