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Talks have resumed with the aim of bringing top Israeli officials to Washington to discuss possible military operations in Gaza, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a planned visit this week because he was angry about the US vote on UN ceasefire resolution, two US officials said on Wednesday.
WASHINGTON: Talks have resumed with the aim of bringing top Israeli officials to Washington to discuss possible military operations in Gaza, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a planned visit this week because he was angry about the US vote. States on the UN ceasefire resolution, two of the US. officials said Wednesday.
No date has been confirmed for strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer and national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi to come to Washington, the officials said. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly about the sensitive discussions and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
An Israeli official said the White House had reached out with the aim of arranging a new meeting. The officer was not authorized to speak to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity. Netanyahu’s office said the prime minister “did not authorize the departure of the delegation to Washington.”
The prime minister canceled the trip this week after a UN vote to demand a ceasefire in Hamas-run Gaza; The United States withheld the vote but did not veto it. Netanyahu accused the United States of “retreating” from a “principled position” by allowing the resolution to pass without conditioning the ceasefire on the release of hostages held by Hamas.
The delegation to the United States was supposed to discuss a promised ground assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which is overflowing with displaced civilians. Israel has so far rejected American appeals to delay the planned operation.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was already in Washington by the time Netanyahu canceled the trip by other officials. Gallant met with Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The Gaza operation was one of many topics they discussed.
Netanyahu said on Wednesday that his decision to cancel was meant to send a message to Hamas that international pressure against Israel will not encourage him to end the war without concessions from the militant group, an apparent attempt to smooth over the conflict between the allies.
Speaking to visiting Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., Netanyahu said the canceled visit “is a message first and foremost to Hamas: Don’t bet on this pressure, it’s not going to work.”
Netanyahu said the US abstention on the UN vote was “very, very bad,” and that he “encourages Hamas to take a hard line and to believe that international pressure will prevent Israel” from achieving its war goals. Israel wants to destroy the military and governance capabilities of Hamas and release the hostages taken by the militant group during its attack on October 7 against Israel.
The US abstention and Netanyahu’s subsequent decision to cancel the delegation represented the strongest public dispute between the two allies since the war in Gaza began.
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Associated Press writers Josef Federman and Tia Goldenberg in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Disclaimer: This post has been automatically published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Associated Press)
