US Jewish group demands Gaza ceasefire,
Gaza(Web Desk)-Israel pressed its offensive in the Gaza Strip on Friday after telling key backer the United States that the war to crush Hamas will last “more than several months”.
The war began after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 that Israeli officials say killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
Vowing to destroy Hamas and bring home an estimated 240 hostages taken by fighters into Gaza, Israel launched a massive military offensive that has left swathes of the besieged territory in ruins.
According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, the war has killed more than 18,700 people, mostly women and children.
While the United States has strongly backed Israel’s response to the October 7 attacks, it has pressed its ally to do more to minimise civilian casualties.
On Thursday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met in Tel Aviv with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
During their meeting, Gallant warned that Israel’s fight with Hamas “will require a period of time — it will last more than several months, but we will win and we will destroy them”.
Speaking in Washington, US President Joe Biden urged Israel to take more care to protect civilians in Gaza.
“I want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives — not stop going after Hamas, but be more careful,” said Biden, whose government has provided Israel with billions of dollars in military aid.
White House spokesman John Kirby, meanwhile, said Washington was “not dictating terms” to Israel and that the timeline given by Gallant was “consistent” with what Israeli officials had previously said.
Netanyahu on Thursday vowed to carry on “until victory”, and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said the war would continue “with or without international support”.
Sullivan on Friday will head to the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Ramallah for talks with Palestinian Authority leaders, a US official said on condition of anonymity.
The West Bank, which is ruled by the Palestinian Authority (PA), has seen a surge in violence since October 7.
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There, the Palestinian health ministry said 11 people had been killed since the Israeli military launched a raid in the city of Jenin and its refugee camp earlier this week.
The war in Gaza has led to increased popular support for Hamas in the West Bank, further weakening the internationally recognised PA.
Earlier.
Jewish Voice for Peace, a Jewish group demanding a ceasefire in Israel’s war in Gaza, held protests on Thursday in eight US cities on the eighth night of Hanukkah, blocking rush hour traffic on busy streets and bridges in Washington and Philadelphia.
In Washington, the group Jewish Voice for Peace said about 90 protesters blocked the overpass to New York Avenue in the northwestern part of the U.S. capital. Police said the demonstration closed the intersection of New York Avenue and North Capitol Street and urged people to use alternate routes.
“On the 8th night of Hanukkah, 8 cities, 8 bridges,” Jewish Voice for Peace said on X, formerly called Twitter. “We are here, gathering across the country in massive, growing numbers, to say no more.”
Demonstrations also occurred in Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle and Portland, Oregon.
In Philadelphia, about 200 protesters briefly blocked the I-76 highway, and more than 30 arrests were made, a Reuters witness said. Protesters held signs and banners that read: “Let Gaza Live” and “Not in our name.”
The United Nations on Tuesday demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
On Wednesday, anti-war activists blocked traffic on a busy Los Angeles highway during the morning rush hour and while some staff from the Biden administration also held a vigil demanding a ceasefire.
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