The White House said on Thursday that it wants the Israel-Hamas war to end “as soon as possible” but also clarified that Washington won’t be dictating terms and Tel Aviv has the right to take it “as long as they feel” to eliminate the Hamas threat.
US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said that the war could end if Hamas Head in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar surrenders and releases the hostages.
Addressing the press briefing on Thursday, Kirby said, “We all want it to end as soon as possible…it could end today if Sinwar did the right thing and laid down his arms and surrendered and gave the hostages back…that doesn’t look likely right now.”
The White House official further said that the war was started by Hamas and that Israel has the right and responsibility to continue it to protect its people.
“This war that Hamas started and Israel has a right and responsibility to continue to conduct this war and protect their people and protect their nation…how long that’s going to take I can’t predict,” Kirby said.
He added, “We are not dictating terms to the Israelis about how long it has to take. It has to take as long as they feel they need to take to be able to eliminate this threat, but obviously, we all want it to be over as soon as possible.”
The ongoing conflict erupted after Hamas fighters, a US and EU-designated terror group, killed 1,200 people and took more than 200 people hostage during their 7 October attack in Israel.
But, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, over 18,600 people have been killed and about 70 per cent of which are women and children.
Meanwhile, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is on a visit to Israel. He is expected to talk about the efforts to be “more surgical and more precise”, so as to reduce the harm on civilians.
John Kirby earlier said in a press briefing that a top White House official is visiting Israel to discuss the next phase of Israel’s war against Hamas and efforts to better protect Palestinian civilians caught in the fighting.
“That is an aim of ours, and the Israelis say it is an aim of theirs, but it’s the results that count,” Kirby added.
Sullivan also planned to discuss US calls for Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, adding that it would expand current flows of aid that go only through the Rafah crossing, reported Voice of America (VoA).
