US Senator says there will be 'a change in tactics' by Israel in Gaza

WASHINGTON

US Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday that there will be "a change in tactics" by the Israeli military in its war in the Gaza Strip.

"I think what the topic we're talking about today is a change in strategy," Graham told NBC News' Kristen Welker when asked about what President Donald Trump meant by the phrase "finish the job."

Before leaving for a trip to Scotland on Friday, Trump said leaders of the Palestinian group Hamas would now be "hunted down.”

"Hamas really didn't want to make a deal. I think they want to die...And it got to be to a point where you're going to have to finish the job," he told reporters.

Graham said he thinks Trump has "come to believe there's no way you're going to negotiate an end of this war with Hamas."

Hamas is a "terrorist organization who is chartered to destroy the State of Israel. They're religious Nazis," he said.

“I think Israel’s come to conclude that they can’t achieve a goal of ending the war with Hamas that would be satisfactory to the safety of Israel and that they’re going to do in Gaza what we did in Tokyo and Berlin -- take the place by force, then start over again, presenting a better future for the Palestinians, hopefully having the Arabs take over the West Bank and Gaza,” Graham said.

“But I think going forward, Kristen, you’re going to see a change in tactics, a full military effort by Israel to take Gaza down, like we did in Tokyo and Berlin," he added.

Trump's special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff announced Thursday that the US delegation participating in the Gaza ceasefire talks will return to Washington for consultations following Hamas' response, which he said "clearly shows a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire in Gaza."

Witkoff said the US would "now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza."

It is unclear what "alternative operations" the Trump administration is now weighing.

The lull in negotiations comes as Gaza's humanitarian catastrophe continues to escalate, with the UN's World Food Program estimating that a quarter of the population is facing famine-like conditions.

On Sunday, Israel announced plans for localized temporary pauses in fighting to allow aid deliveries through designated safe corridors after scores of Palestinians died of starvation in the blockaded enclave.

Gaza’s hunger crisis has spiraled into a humanitarian catastrophe. Harrowing footage shows severely emaciated residents, some reduced to skin and bone, collapsing from exhaustion, dehydration and prolonged starvation.

‏Israel has killed more than 59,700 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since a Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border raid that killed roughly 1,200 people.

Israel's military campaign has devastated the enclave, collapsed the health system and led to severe food shortages.

‏Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

‏Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.