Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said Israeli forces have made a “very meaningful and successful achievement” on the battlefield against Hamas.

Speaking at the joint news conference with Lloyd Austin, Gallant said the elimination of Hamas leadership “will be achieved hopefully soon”.

Israel will gradually transition to the next phase of operations in the war in which the local population may be able to return to the north of the Gaza Strip, he said. Gallant said:

"I can tell you that soon we will be able to distinguish between different areas in Gaza."

He said this would allow Israel to start working on bringing back local population “maybe sooner in the north” than in the south. “This is an ongoing discussion,” he added.