A senior US government official warned Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar on Thursday evening: Your days are numbered.
It didn't matter how long it took, the official added, but justice would be done.
It came shortly after Israel dropped leaflets on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, offering a $400,000 reward for information on the terror mastermind's whereabouts.
“I think it's safe to say his days are numbered,” the senior administration official said.
“I also think it's safe to say it doesn't matter how long that takes.”
Yahya Sinwar, head of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, pictured in the Gaza Strip in May 2021. A senior government official said: 'His days are numbered'
He added that 38 Americans were killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7 and that Americans are still being held hostage.
“I remind you that he has American blood on his hands,” the official told reporters during a briefing call. “So it doesn't matter how long it takes, but justice will be done.”
Israel pounded targets across the Gaza Strip on Thursday as it continued its high-intensity bombing campaign.
Sinwar fled from his hideout in the north of the enclave to Khan Yunis in southern Gaza as part of a humanitarian convoy shortly after the start of the war, an Israeli source told KAN News. It is believed that he is holed up in an underground bunker.
He took over leadership of Hamas in Gaza in 2017 and has since used the information about Israel and Israelis he learned during two decades as a prisoner.
He was one of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners released in 2011 for a single Israeli soldier, cementing the power of the Israeli hostages in his mind. His group now has 138 prisoners, who he believes can be used to bend Israel's government to his will.
During his captivity, he learned Hebrew and watched local TV programs to better understand his enemy.
In the meantime, Washington is calling on Israel to scale back its war and do more to protect civilians.
Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan discussed the issue during talks in Tel Aviv with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Simwar spent more than twenty years as a prisoner of Israel. He learned Hebrew and watched Israeli TV programs as part of an effort to better understand his enemy
A senior Biden administration official on Thursday reportedly demanded that Israel end its intensive attack on Hamas in Gaza by weeks instead of months.
Joe Biden's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan (left) met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) in Tel Aviv on Thursday
“I want them to focus on saving civilian lives,” Biden said. “Don't stop going after Hamas, but be more careful.”
Netanyahu said the war would continue until Hamas was eliminated.
“I told our American friends: our heroic fighters did not fall in vain,” he said, according to a statement from his office.
“Because of the deep pain of their fall, we are more determined than ever to keep fighting until Hamas is eliminated – until absolute victory.”
It comes amid reports of US concerns that the high-intensity bombing campaign is making it harder to secure the release of hostages.
Israel launched its attack on October 7 in response to a devastating terrorist attack by Hamas that killed 1,200 people.
Since then, aid organizations have been warning of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Hamas-controlled health authorities say 18,000 people were killed in the siege and bombardment.
Vice President Kamala Harris has reportedly urged his colleagues, including President Joe Biden, to be more publicly sympathetic to the Palestinians in Gaza amid the Israeli bombardment.
More than 18,000 people have been killed in the siege and bombardment of Gaza, according to Hamas-controlled Palestinian health authorities.
A reservist jumps from an armored personnel carrier at a staging post near the Gaza border
Israel continued its heavy bombardment on Thursday, pounding targets across the length and breadth of Gaza.
At the White House, spokesman John Kirby was asked about Sullivan's meeting with Netanyahu.
“He did talk about a possible transition from what we would call high-intensity operations, which we see them doing now, to lower-intensity operations sometime in the near future, but I don't want to put a time stamp on it. ,' he said.
“I think you can understand that the last thing we would want to do is telegraph to Hamas what they are likely to have to deal with in the coming weeks and months.”
A senior government official later explained that a low-intensity phase would focus on “high-value targets and intelligence-based raids.”
“But we're not there yet,” he added.
In Israel, Minister Benny Gantz told reporters that the US was not trying to dictate policy.
'I think the Americans are conducting a strategic and professional discourse with us that is appropriate and measured. “They're not trying to dictate anything to us,” he said.
Still, the Biden administration's position has hardened in recent weeks.
Biden has benefited greatly from his long friendship with Netanyahu, and aides have said he can have more influence over Israel by taking a publicly supportive position.
However, his top lieutenants issued warnings earlier this month.
Sullivan meets with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and aides in Tel Aviv
Biden's vice president used a speech in Dubai to issue the strongest demand yet that Israel adhere to international humanitarian law.
“Too many innocent Palestinians have been murdered,” Kamala Harris said. “Frankly, the extent of civilian suffering and the images and videos from Gaza are devastating.”
On the same day, Biden's Defense Secretary warned that Israel's campaign could backfire by radicalizing a new generation of Hamas recruits.
“In these types of battles, the center of gravity is the civilian population,” said Lloyd Austin. “And if you drive them into the arms of the enemy, you replace tactical victory with strategic defeat.”
And Biden himself publicly warned his old friend about this on Tuesday
“They are starting to lose that support because of indiscriminate bombings that are happening,” he told a gathering of donors.”
It also emerged on Thursday that Harris has urged Biden to take a tougher stance on Israel and to stand up more for the citizens of Gaza.