Israel Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant (right) with Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, in Tel Aviv, Israel. File
| Photo Credit: AP

“U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet with Israel’s Minister of Defence on March 26 and discuss ways to defeat Hamas other than conducting a ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah,” the Pentagon said, at a time of rising tensions between the two countries.

Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, told reporters on March 25 that Mr. Austin’s planned morning meeting with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant is still on, even though Israel abruptly cancelled the visit of a high-level delegation to Washington this week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled the visit in protest over Monday’s UN Security Council decision calling for an immediate cease-fire. The U.S. abstained, deciding not to use its veto power, and the resolution passed 14-0.

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“There are ways to go about addressing the threat of Hamas, while also taking into account civilian safety. A lot of those are from lessons, our own lessons, conducting operations in urban environments,” Mr. Ryder said. “I would expect the conversations to cover those kinds of things.” Israel says it cannot defeat Hamas without going into Rafah, where it says the group has four battalions composed of thousands of fighters.

Israel’s offensive has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and driven a third of Gaza’s population to the brink of starvation. It was launched in response to Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, which killed some 1,200 people.

Hamas-led militants also took around 250 people hostage. They are still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of around 30 others, after most of the rest were freed during a cease-fire last year in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

The United Nations Security Council resolution calls for a cease-fire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Mr. Netanyahu accused the U.S. of “retreating” from a “principled position” by allowing the vote to pass without conditioning the cease-fire on the release of hostages.

The dispute signals an erosion in the U.S.-Israel relationship that has been under a microscope for months as the military assault on Hamas continues, escalating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. was disappointed in the decision to cancel the delegation’s visit this week. He said the talks with Mr. Gallant would likely include some of what the U.S. had planned to discuss with the Israeli delegation on the possible Rafah invasion.

The White House was aiming to talk to the Israelis about possible alternatives to a ground invasion of Rafah. Mr. Gallant met, on March 25, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security advisor Jake Sullivan. Mr. Kirby said those meetings, however, had not been intended as a replacement for the delegation meetings.

Jerusalem:

Israel’s police force said it will deploy thousands of officers across Jerusalem’s Old City for Ramadan’s first Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa mosque, with tensions high amid the Gaza war.

“We are prepared for Friday prayers with more police officers. Thousands of them will be in the area of Temple Mount,” police spokeswoman Mirit ben Mayor told reporters, using the Jewish name for the Al-Aqsa mosque site.

Hundreds of police officers had already been deployed in the Old City in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem since Ramadan began on Monday, she said.

Ben Mayor said up to 25,000 worshippers had already visited the mosque for prayers during the Muslim fasting month of fasting without any incidents.

“We will do everything to enable this Ramadan to be quiet,” she told a news conference.

Asked about clashes that reportedly occurred between police and worshippers on Sunday, government spokeswoman Tal Heinrich said: “We are on high alert”.

“It’s no secret that extremists, terrorist organisations like Hamas and (Palestinian) Islamic Jihad are trying to inflame the region,” she told the news conference.

Last week Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Muslim worshippers would be allowed to access Al-Aqsa mosque in the same numbers as in previous years during the first week of Ramadan.

“Every week there will be a situation assessment in terms of security and safety and a decision will be made accordingly,” it said.

Palestinians coming to Al-Aqsa from the occupied West Bank were expected to face some restrictions, police said in a statement.

Only men aged 55 and older and women over 50 from the territory would be allowed to enter the mosque compound “for security reasons”, government spokesperson Ofir Gendelman said.

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir had recently called for stricter restrictions on Palestinian residents of the West Bank, saying they “should not be allowed” entry to Jerusalem to pray during Ramadan.

The Al-Aqsa mosque is the third holiest site in Islam, and although its management technically falls under Jordan’s authority, Israel imposes restrictions in and around the complex.

Clashes often erupt at the site between Muslim worshippers and Israeli security forces.

This year Ramadan comes with Israel engaged in a devastating war with Palestinian Hamas group in the Gaza Strip.

The war broke out after the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas that resulted in the death of around 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has since then killed at least 31,184 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)