Yahya Sinwar, head of the Palestinian terror group Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City on April 14, 2023. Photo: Yousef Masoud / SOPA Images/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

i24 News — Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s days “are numbered,” a senior Biden administration official said Thursday, pledging that “justice will be served.”

Coinciding with a visit to the region by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, the official said of Sinwar, “I think it’s safe to say his days are numbered … He has American blood on his hands.”

Sinwar, who runs Hamas in the Gaza Strip, is part of a group of Hamas higher-ups who planned the terror group’s Oct. 7 massacre in Israel.

Sullivan visited Israel on Thursday, meeting twice with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A meeting with Israel’s full War Cabinet was sandwiched in between.

Sullivan also met individually with Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and War Cabinet member and former Defense Minister Benny Gantz. A meeting with Mossad Director David Barnea stretched from one hour to two, focusing on the hostage situation in Gaza.

Sullivan’s trip to Israel comes amid vocal frustration from US President Joe Biden and others regarding the growing civilian death toll in Gaza amidst Israel’s operation to root out Hamas terrorists, who hide and operate amongst the civilian population and below ground.

The official said the second Sullivan-Netanyahu meeting focused on expectations “as we move through the course of the coming weeks or towards the end of the year and into the early part of January.”

Overall, the official said the two talked about the humanitarian situation, military campaign strategy, and threats from Iran’s other regional proxies, including the Houthis and Hezbollah.

I met today with @IsraeliPM, @yoavgallant, @gantzbe,@Tzachi_Hanegbi, & the War Cabinet in Tel Aviv to discuss our shared objective of defeating Hamas while minimizing harm to civilians & ensuring the increased and sustained flow of humanitarian assistance. https://t.co/3BKFb3bhBa

— Jake Sullivan (@JakeSullivan46) December 15, 2023

Amidst multiple media reports that the Biden administration is instructing Israel to wind down its operation in Gaza in the coming weeks, the official disputed the accuracy of such reports, telling journalists that the White House was more concerned with the intensity of the IDF’s assaults, and less so with particular time frames.

United States and Israeli officials are focusing on a shift from high-intensity operations to one of high-value targets in a lower-intensity environment, the official emphasized.

“Heavy discussions” were held on Israel’s need to protect Gazan civilians, and the humanitarian situation in Gaza was a focal point.

The Biden administration has been pushing Israel to focus more on the future of Gaza, and what will happen once Hamas is no longer in power there. The White House’s stated preference is for a “revamped, revitalized” Palestinian Authority (PA) to resume the control it lost to Hamas in 2007. Netanyahu is insistent that the PA will play no part in a post-Hamas leadership role in Gaza.

The senior official on Thursday danced around a question about what exactly would define a revitalized PA, which is largely seen as broken and corrupt. Sullivan is set to meet on Friday with PA officials, focusing on maintaining a measure of stability in the West Bank.

The official insisted there is a role for the PA in a future Gaza.

“There are a number of security personnel linked to the Palestinian Authority, which we think might be able to provide some sort of a nucleus in the many months that follow the overall military campaign. But this is something we’re discussing with the Palestinians and with the Israelis and with regional partners. It very much remains a work in progress,” the official said.

Regardless of the exact security structure, the Israeli government is adamant that the Biden administration’s insistence on revving up a pathway to a two-state solution, especially in light of Oct. 7, is a non-starter.

The official said on Thursday that conversations in Jerusalem have touched on what might be a potential alternative in the Israelis’ minds.

“I think we’ve actually had quite constructive conversations about where this heads,” said the official.