A top US official on Thursday expressed strong backing for Israel’s objectives in the war with Hamas in Gaza, saying Washington had given no “firm deadline” to Jerusalem on ending its military operations in the Palestinian enclave.

But senior Biden administration officials also issued strong warnings to Israel on the need for maximum efforts to protect civilian life in Gaza amid a mounting death toll in the Hamas-ruled territory.

And US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there was “a gap” between what Israel had pledged to do to protect Palestinian civilians and the results so far, since it began intensive military operations against Hamas in the south of the Strip.

US Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer said during an on-stage interview at the Aspen Security Conference that Israel “has said that Hamas can no longer govern, can no longer be in charge of Gaza. We think that is a very legitimate objective, given what has happened on October 7 and since.”

Israel’s second main objective is that Hamas will no longer be allowed to pose the type of threat that it posed to Israel on October 7. “Frankly, if the war were stopped today, it would continue to pose [such a threat], which is why we’re not in place yet of asking Israel to stop or for a ceasefire,” Finer said.

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