The war in Gaza will enter a new phase focused on precise targeting of the Hamas leadership and intelligence-based operations, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in Israel on Friday, as quoted by Reuters and France Presse.

Israel is under growing global pressure to reduce civilian casualties in an offensive that has killed nearly 19,000 Palestinian civilians since a Hamas attack that killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7.

According to Sullivan, it will take months to achieve Israel’s goals in the war, but the fighting will continue in phases, moving away from the current campaign of heavy bombing and ground operations.

A White House adviser, who is due to visit Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday, did not provide details on the timing of the change in the intensity of the war.

“The conditions and the timing for that were obviously the subject of my conversation with Prime Minister (Benyamin) Netanyahu, the military cabinet, Israel’s military leaders and the defense minister,” Sullivan said at a news conference.

Sullivan declined to answer when asked if the United States could withdraw military aid unless the war entered a phase of lower intensity with less civilian casualties, saying the best way to reach an agreement was through closed-door discussions.

It would be “wrong” for Israel to occupy the Gaza Strip in the long term after the war against Hamas, he also said, writes Agerpres with reference to Reuters and AFP.

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