TEL AVIV — Even as Israel expands its ground operation into the southern Gaza Strip, the Biden administration is marking the start of 2024 as the target date for ending Israel’s massive military campaign in Gaza, according to Al-Monitor’s sources.
This is not a deadline, but a target. During a war target dates can shift, but the Americans clearly believe that Israel is close to exhausting the extensive ground invasion it launched Oct. 27 and should switch to more focused efforts to bring down Hamas.
"The gap between us and the Americans is around three weeks to a month — nothing that cannot be resolved,” a highly placed Israeli diplomatic source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity.
Weeks apart