Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday concluded a meeting with White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Washington in which they discussed the progress of the fighting in Gaza, efforts to recover hostages, the need to return northern residents to their homes and U.S.-Israel cooperation on the Iranian threat.
1 View gallery
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Joe Biden and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant
(Photo: Elad Malka, Brendan SMIALOWSKI, AFP, EPA)
"Significant progress was made during the meetings, obstacles were cleared, and bottlenecks were opened to advance all issues at hand, including the procurement and armament that we need to bring to Israel," Gallant said.
Meanwhile, the Dutch government on Wednesday issued an advisory asking its citizens to leave Lebanon due to the risk of further escalation of conflict in the region, the Turkish state-funded Anadolu Agency reported.
The Foreign Ministry on X urged Dutch citizens to avoid travel to Lebanon and those who live there to leave as commercial flights are still operating.
Mentioning how the current travel warning to the Mideast country is "red," it stressed the situation there remains very "unpredictable."
The Dutch Embassy may not be able to help its citizens if they get into trouble, it cautioned.
In a similar move, Germany and Canada issued a travel warning and asked its citizens who are currently in Lebanon to leave the country.
"Germans in Lebanon are urgently asked to leave the country. The situation at the border between Israel and Lebanon is very tense,” the ministry said on its X account.
It also warned that air traffic from Beirut Rafic Hariri Airport could be completely suspended in the event of further escalation, making it impossible to leave the country by air.