US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin on Tuesday deemed civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip "too high" and indicated that he would discuss alternatives to a large-scale Israeli operation in the south with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant. of the territory.
“In Gaza today, the number of civilian victims is far too high and humanitarian aid far too low,” he said, receiving his Israeli counterpart at the Pentagon.
The latter, for his part, declared that they would talk about “the evolution of the situation in Gaza and the means to achieve our objectives: the elimination of Hamas and the return of Israeli hostages”.
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The talks come a day after Israel canceled a high-ranking side visit to the US capital, which was supposed to discuss plans for an offensive in Rafah.
American opposition to any assault in Rafah
This cancellation was decided in reaction to American abstention during Monday's vote at the UN on a Security Council resolution in favor of an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza.
Yoav Gallant already spoke on Monday with the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken, who spoke with the Israeli government on Friday in Tel Aviv.
The United States has forcefully expressed its opposition in recent days to any ground assault on the town of Rafah, where a large part of Gaza's population has taken refuge after fleeing bombings in the north of the territory.
Washington believes that the Israeli government has not presented a coherent plan for the evacuation of the 1.4 million people in Rafah, and advocates more targeted operations targeting the last bastions of Palestinian Hamas.