\n<\/p>\n
The intensive phase of Israel\u2019s war against Hamas is \u201cabout to end,\u201d Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Sunday night interview on Israeli television, although he emphasized that did not mean the conflict was coming to a close.<\/p>\n
After the operation in Rafah, Gaza\u2019s southernmost city and the latest focus of Israel\u2019s ground offensive, the prime minister said, Israel would keep \u201cmowing the lawn\u201d \u2014 a term long used in Israeli security circles to denote the use of force aimed at curtailing the regrowth of militant organizations.<\/p>\n
Mr. Netanyahu\u2019s remarks were the latest suggestion by senior Israeli officials that the war could soon enter a period of change.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, was in Washington for meetings with Biden administration officials, which he said would include discussion of \u201cthe transition to \u2018Phase C\u2019 in Gaza.\u201d <\/p>\n
While Israel\u2019s military says it is close to dismantling or seriously degrading Hamas\u2019s military infrastructure, the government has not proposed any clear plan for the administration of Gaza after the war.<\/p>\n
Mr. Netanyahu suggested in the interview that a postwar civilian administration would involve local Palestinians, hopefully with the help of moderate Arab nations. The Israeli military would have to maintain overall security control of the enclave, he said.<\/p>\n
The prime minister continued to rule out a proposal that has been pushed by the Biden administration: handing over Gaza to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n
To get to the \u201cday after Hamas,\u201d Mr. Netanyahu said, \u201cfirst you have to eliminate Hamas\u201d \u2014 reiterating his longstanding position that the armed group be fully eradicated, a goal that many experts say is unattainable<\/a>.<\/p>\n