The British newspaper "Financial Times" revealed, in its issue published this Sunday morning, that the United States has officially warned Israel of the possibility of suffering a "strategic defeat" unless it protects civilians in the Gaza Strip, ravaged by its ongoing aggression for a long time.

The newspaper mentioned at the beginning of its report, published on its website on this matter, that recent comments by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin highlighted the increasing tensions between Israel and the United States regarding the rising number of civilian casualties from the Israeli aggression on Gaza.

As a sign of growing tensions between the close allies after Israel resumed its military campaign in southern Gaza, Austin said: Israel will only win if it protects civilians and establishes humanitarian corridors.

He added in his speech at the Reagan National Defense Forum held in the U.S. state of California: "In this kind of combat, the civilian population is the center of gravity. And if you push them into the arms of your enemy, you are then exchanging tactical victory for strategic defeat."

Furthermore, U.S. President Joe Biden and other senior American officials warned their Israeli counterparts of the necessity to avoid this kind of mass internal displacement resulting from their continued bombing of northern Gaza. They urged Israel to be more precise in the next phase of its campaign!

Austin and other U.S. military officials, according to the newspaper, cited lessons learned from Washington's war against the terrorist ISIS organization in Iraq, which included intense fighting in urban areas. He said, "ISIS was deeply entrenched, like Hamas, in urban areas. Therefore, the international coalition against ISIS strove hard to protect civilians and establish humanitarian corridors, even during the toughest battles."

Austin confirmed that "the lesson learned is not that you can win an urban war by protecting civilians. The lesson learned is that you cannot win an urban war except by protecting civilians."

For his part, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday, Friday, that Israel shared with him its plans on how to protect civilians in the next phase of the military campaign, and the United States intends to closely monitor the ongoing campaign.

The "Financial Times" explained that Biden is under increasing pressure from within his administration and the Democratic Party to exert more effort to restrain Israel, while Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton said: "It is important for Israel to defeat Hamas. But if they continue killing this large number of civilians, they will make them stronger" – referring to Hamas.

It reported that the Israeli army intensified its air raids on the southern sector yesterday, Saturday, and ordered residents of some Palestinian border towns to leave their homes. Palestinian health officials said that since the ceasefire collapsed yesterday, Friday, the renewed Israeli attack on Gaza has killed 193 people.

Palestinian health officials announced that more than 15,200 people have been killed due to the Israeli military response to the attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7, while the British newspaper pointed out that Hamas released 84 women and children during the recent ceasefire, while Israel released about 240 Palestinian women and children from prisons. The Israeli army said Hamas still holds 136 people, including 17 women and children, while the remaining detainees are mostly Israeli soldiers and reservists.