Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks during a joint press conference at Israel’s Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, Israel, on December 18.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant discussed a transition into a new phase of the war in Gaza with US envoy and senior advisor to US President Joe Biden Amos Hochstein as the pair met in Washington.
Israeli officials have yet to clarify what Gallant means by “Phase C,” but on October 20, shortly after the terror attack that prompted Israel’s massive military response in Gaza, the Gallant and the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee said that the war against Hamas would have three main phases: Phase One would entail a military campaign involving air and ground assets, while Phase Two would involve fighting but with “lower intensity” and to “eliminate pockets of resistance.”
Gallant said the third step “will be the creation of a new security regime in the Gaza Strip, the removal of Israel’s responsibility for day-to-day life in the Gaza Strip, and the creation of a new security reality for the citizens of Israel.”
It’s unclear if Phase C is intended as the third phase of the plan previously outlined by Gallant. CNN has reached out to the Israeli Ministry of Defense for clarification but has yet to hear back.
The statement added that Gallant and Hochstein discussed the escalating conflict on the Israel-Lebanon border.
