Israel may face pressure during US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin’s visit in the coming days for some sort of cessation of hostilities in Gaza, Mohammed Cherkaoui, a professor at George Mason University, tells Al Jazeera.

“[US President Joe] Biden is no longer in favour of the current Israeli government, specifically when Biden named Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Israeli security minister, as someone who should not be in the government.”

He added that the White House has “reached its limit” as Israel does not have a clear-cut strategy to undertake its goal of eliminating Hamas, along with the rising death toll in Gaza, which has topped 18,000.

“If Netanyahu was counting on at least another two months, December and January, to fulfil his military mission, I don’t think it will last that long; so probably we may see some US pressure to end the war before the end of 2023,” Cherkaoui added.