Biden and Netanyahu don't mention The Word

In a long conversation on the phone Joe Biden and Binyamin Netanyahu talked in detail about the war in Gaza but no mention of the word that the Israeli leader dislikes more than any other word in the dictionary - ceasefire. From an Israeli military point of view, a ceasefire now would make no sense because the mission is only half completed, if that. The Israel Defence Forces claim they have most of northern Gaza under control. So there's a mass of fighting to do in the south still. A ceasefire would be a huge bonus to Hamas, especially since the IDF has failed so far to eliminate any of the top leadership of the terrorist-designated group. But it's probaby true to say that the rest of the world, including the US, would like a ceasefire, if only for the release of more hostages and a calming-down of the mass bombardments which have destroyed so much of Gaza. But Biden presumbaly knew that if he urged Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire he would get short-shrift from the Israeli leader. So Biden's only alternative was to plead for a different style of fighting to reduce the appalling toll of deaths and injuries among the Palestinian civilians. This might force the IDF to drop airstrikes and go for the option which will cause more casualties among the Israeli soldiers - a full-scale assault down the tunnels in the south. The IDF has avoided ths so far because of the risks but it may now become the only option.