Israel's strategic affairs minister in US to meet senior Biden officials

Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer will meet senior Biden administration officials Tuesday in the US capital to discuss the Gaza conflict.

Dermer "is meeting with Secretary of State Tony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan this afternoon for face-to-face consultations on a number of matters related to the conflict in Gaza and the return of hostages held by Hamas," National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

Dermer's visit comes one day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the war in the Gaza Strip "was far from over" and that Tel Aviv will intensify the fight in the coming days.

Netanyahu is also defying demands for a cease-fire.

In response to a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, Israel launched air and ground attacks on the coastal territory and has since killed at least 20,915 people, most of them women and children.

The onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave's infrastructure damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Tel Aviv has vowed to destroy the Palestinian resistance group and ensure the release of all hostages taken in the October attack. Some of the hostages were released after a temporary truce in November in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.