Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked US President Joe Biden for a period of two or three days to end the military operations in Gaza, while the latter encouraged Israel to "take all possible measures to ensure the protection of innocent civilians."
The Anadolu Agency quoted well-informed Western sources as saying that Netanyahu asked the American administration for a period of two to three days to end his military operation in the Gaza Strip, noting that the Americans asked Netanyahu to end his aggression on Gaza, and he said that he still needs two to three days to complete striking targets in the Strip.
For his part, the political correspondent of the "Walla" Israeli news site, Barak Rafid, told the American "CNN" network at dawn Tuesday, quoting Israeli officials, "They need 24-48 hours to complete the operation in Gaza, and then they will stop."
On the other hand, the US website Axios said that the Biden administration did not give Israel a deadline to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.
The website quoted an Israeli official as saying that Washington's general message in Biden and Netanyahu's call is that it supports Israel but wants to end the operation in Gaza, adding that the Biden administration has made clear that its ability to curb international pressure on Israel regarding the Gaza operation has come to an end.
Al-Jazeera correspondent Elias Karam also indicated that Israeli sources stated that Netanyahu wants two or 3 days before ending his campaign in order to achieve any military achievement that enables him to emerge victorious.
Netanyahu seeks a military achievement to enable him to emerge victorious (Reuters)
Exclusion and negation
For its part, the official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said, on Tuesday, that Israeli sources familiar with the ongoing contacts with the aim of reaching a ceasefire confirmed that "signs of optimism began to appear on the horizon about the possibility of ending the military operation in the Gaza Strip."
In this regard, those sources indicated that "initial contacts are underway to achieve this goal," but the official body added that the Israeli Prime Minister's Office "denies this."
In his speech to the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation, Tuesday, Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz ruled out the possibility of ending the military operation in the Gaza Strip in the coming days.
Support Israel
The White House had reported that President Biden had expressed, in a telephone conversation with Netanyahu, his support for the ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians.
Biden affirmed what he called "Israel's right to defend itself," and his condemnation of what he described as the indiscriminate missile attacks by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Israeli towns, according to a White House statement.
However, the statement added that the US President "expressed his support for the ceasefire and discussed the United States' engagement with Egypt and other partners for this purpose."
The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said that Netanyahu told Biden that he was "determined to complete the goal of the operation to restore security to the citizens of Israel."
Israel had launched a large-scale military operation against the Gaza Strip since May 10, during which war fighters targeted civilian homes, residential towers, and media institutions, in addition to the streets and infrastructure in the Strip.