CIA says Benjamin Netanyahu likely to ignore US pressure on post-war Gaza plan
The CIA believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would likely judge that he can avoid having to set out a post-war Gaza plan.
This comes despite the Biden administration launching an intensive push for him to bring an end to the war in Gaza.
In a report reviewed by ITV News' US partner CNN, the CIA said Mr Netanyahu "probably believes he can maintain support from his security chiefs and prevent defections” from the right wing of his coalition by discussing the future of Gaza in “vague terms”.
The assessment represents the most up-to-date look into how intelligence services view Mr Netanyahu's mindset.
It also comes amid a shift in the Biden administration's attitude towards Israel - less as a trusted international partner and more as an unpredictable foreign government to be analysed and understood.
The CIA has declined to comment on the reporting conducted by CNN.
The assessment highlighted that the Israeli leader has already defied members of his own government and Mr Biden's calls to define an "end state" for Gaza.
It also warns that what Mr Netanyahu has said in public is likely true; that he will only engage in serious post-war issues after his security benchmarks are met - something that may take months.
Those benchmarks include completing "major military operations" - something analysts believe is deliberately vague - and eliminating Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif.
It comes after a US military-built pier being used to carry aid into Gaza by boat has been reconnected to the beach after being broken apart by storms and rough seas.
US command has said that food and other supplies will begin to flow into Gaza again.
It has taken nearly two weeks to rebuild after heavy storms abruptly halted the already struggling delivery route.
US officials have said that operations at the reconnected pier will be ramped up soon with a goal to get 1 million pounds (450,000 kilograms) of food and other supplies moving through the pier into Gaza every two days.
The pier was only operational for a week before it was swept apart by the storm, and had struggled to cope with delivery targets.
Weather has consistently been an issue, and early efforts to get aid from the pier into Gaza were disrupted as civilians desperate for food stormed the trucks that aid agencies were using to transport the food to the warehouses for distribution.
Airdrops of aid are also expected to resume on Friday.
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