The US Secretary of Defense arrives in Israel with a tougher message.

After three years as President Biden’s quiet man at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III stepped off his plane at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport on Monday and stepped into the spotlight.

Mr. Austin will meet with Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. U.S. officials said the meetings would discuss in detail when and how Israeli forces will carry out a new phase of the war, which U.S. officials envision would involve smaller groups of elite forces moving in and out of population centers in Gaza , involving more precise, intelligence-driven missions to find and kill Hamas leaders, rescue hostages and destroy tunnels.

It is Mr Austin’s second visit to the region since Israel launched the war in Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led terrorist attack on October 7. In previous meetings and conversations with Israeli officials, Mr. Austin has emphasized the Biden administration’s support for Israel and concerns about the rising Palestinian death toll.

Pentagon officials say Mr. Austin is well equipped to deliver the message about the need to protect civilians. The retired four-star general brings a wealth of military experience in combat, including urban warfare. Early US efforts to attack the Taliban and insurgents in Afghanistan in 2004. The troop surge in Iraq in 2007. The plans to wrest Mosul, Iraq, from the hands of the Islamic State in 2016. Mr. Austin was involved in all That.