The White House has confirmed that during the brief two-hour ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the 2014 Gaza War, it put pressure on Israel to change its military strategy, in order to better focus its efforts on trying to reach a negotiated cease-fire. White House spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said that the US had urged Israel to pursue a more “sustainable” end to the conflict, which could be achieved through a new strategy. This was not only to protect Palestinian lives, but also to advance Israel’s legitimate security concerns.
The White House statements confirmed reports that during the two-hour ceasefire, US National Security Adviser Susan Rice and Secretary of State John Kerry telephoned both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon to press for a shift in strategy that would maximize the possibility of a negotiated cease-fire. The White House has said that neither Netanyahu nor Yaalon agreed with the US demands, and that the Israeli military proceeded with its military operations after the two-hour pause ended.
