US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urged Israel on Tuesday to abandon plans for a large-scale ground offensive against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. Austin said there is a "moral necessity and a strategic imperative" to protect civilians in the Hamas-controlled strip where, according to local authorities, the does not distinguish between civilians and fighters, more than 30,000 people were killed.
Austin spoke with Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon. Gallant's visit to Washington this week takes on added significance after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, angered by the U.S. decision to allow the passage of a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an unconditional ceasefire.