According to the report, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has stressed in phone conversations with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, the need for careful consideration of how Israeli forces might conduct a ground invasion of Gaza.
Biden administration officials insisted that the United States had not told Israel what to do and still supported the ground invasion, according to The New York Times.
Israeli officials in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment. On Sunday, a diplomat from the Israeli Embassy denied that the US government was advising the Israelis to delay the ground invasion.
The administration is also concerned, the officials told The New York Times, that the Israel Defense Forces do not yet have a clear military pathway to achieve Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s goal of eradicating Hamas. In conversations with Israeli officials since the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, American officials said they have not yet seen an achievable plan of action.
American officials said that the Israel must decide whether, for instance, to try to take out Hamas by using surgical airstrikes combined with targeted raids by special operations troops.
Both tactics will result in heavy losses, US officials said, but a ground operation could be far bloodier, for troops and civilians.
