Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant is to visit Washington in the coming week, the government said, as pressure mounts to call off a planned offensive in Gaza’s Rafah, AFP reports.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office also announced that a delegation would visit Washington at “the request of US President Joe Biden” to discuss the planned assault, which the United States opposes.

During his first visit to Washington since the conflict erupted in response to October 7, Gallant is due to meet Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin, but no date was announced.