Israel urges intensified military pressure amid Gaza hostage negotiations: Report

By Zein Khail

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant informed his American counterpart, Lloyd Austin, on Tuesday that negotiations to release Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip require intensifying military pressure, according to Israeli Army Radio.

It came during a meeting at the Pentagon where Gallant said the US and Israel must unite efforts militarily and politically.

Earlier Tuesday, Gallant met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his visit to Washington that began Sunday.

Following that meeting, Gallant wrote on X: ''We discussed developments in the war against Hamas, and the military operations required to destroy Hamas as a military and governing authority in Gaza.''

Relations between Tel Aviv and Washington have been increasingly tense, reaching a peak Monday when the US refrained from vetoing a UN Security Council resolution that compelled Israel to commit a cease-fire in Gaza during Ramadan.

Fourteen countries of the 15-member Council voted in favor of the resolution while the US abstained.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled his country's delegation's trip to Washington in protest against Washington abstaining from vetoing the resolution.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Palestinian territory since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas which killed less than 1,200 people.

More than 32,400 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 74,800 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war, now in day 172, has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul