US security adviser urges Netanyahu to connect war to ‘political strategy’

On Sunday the Hamas-run civil defence agency in Gaza said an Israeli air strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza had killed 31 people and wounded 20.

Eyewitness Yasser Abu Oula told AFP that an entire residential complex “was destroyed” and “there are still bodies under the rubble”.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was checking the reports.

The IDF also said it had struck dozens of targets in Gaza including in Rafah, and had engaged in fierce battles in Jabalia in northern Gaza. It said that two soldiers were killed fighting in the south on Saturday.

The US has long warned Israel against conducting a full-scale military incursion into Rafah without a plan to protect civilians, which the US says has not been provided.

The White House has previously said that it would stop supplying some weapons if Israel launches a major ground offensive on the city.

However an Israeli official told Reuters news agency that Mr Netanyahu and his senior aides would try to reach an agreement with Mr Sullivan that a full push into Rafah was needed.

In his intervention, Mr Gantz set an 8 June deadline for a plan to achieve six “strategic goals”, including the end of Hamas rule in Gaza and the establishment of a multinational civilian administration for the territory.

Mr Netanyahu dismissed Mr Gantz’s comments, saying they would lead to “defeat for Israel” and “the establishment of a Palestinian state”, which he opposes.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s attack on southern Israel last year, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 252 others were taken hostage.

More than 35,456 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.