Gallant commented on the Security Council’s decision that Israel will continue the war on Gaza until the recovery of its prisoners detained there (Reuters - Archive)
Strategic Communications Coordinator for the US National Security Council, John Kirby, announced that Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant will meet tomorrow, Tuesday in Washington, with his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, despite Israel canceling its delegation’s visit to the US capital after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Kirby said in a press conference at the White House on Monday that Gallant will also meet with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
For its part, the US Department of Defense said that the visit of the Israeli Defense Minister to the Pentagon is separate from the visit that was scheduled for the Israeli delegation to the White House, which was cancelled.
The ministry added that the US Secretary of Defense's meeting with his Israeli counterpart at the Pentagon tomorrow, Tuesday, is still ongoing, and will discuss efforts to release "hostages" held by Hamas, the need to increase aid to civilians, and plans to ensure the safety of more than a million people who have taken refuge in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.
For his part, Gallant said in a video statement from Washington that he will inform the White House that Israel will act against Hamas everywhere, including places it has not yet entered, in reference to the possible invasion of Rafah, which Washington says would be a mistake if the security of civilians is not guaranteed. Firstly.
In his comment on the Security Council resolution, the Israeli Defense Minister said that there is no moral right for anyone to stop the war without liberating those he called the kidnappers, adding that stopping the war in Gaza may bring a war closer to the northern front, as he put it.
After the United States abstained from voting on the international resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza during the month of Ramadan, the Israeli Prime Minister announced that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had canceled the visit of an Israeli delegation to Washington.
Washington described the Israeli decision as a "surprising and exaggerated" response to its failure to use its veto power in the Security Council, and stressed that there is no change in its policy towards Tel Aviv.
Source: Al Jazeera + agencies