U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrived in Israel on Monday for talks on Gaza conflict. 

A senior U.S. defense official told reporters traveling with Austin that he was expected to discuss Israel's planning for a transition to the next phase of the war in his talks with senior Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

"What you see in terms of the high-intensity ground operations, plus air strikes, today is not going to go on forever. It's one phase of a campaign," the official was quoted by Reuters as saying. "We have an interest in supporting the Israelis in planning for what a transition looks like when they make the decision that major ground operations should end and they're ready to transition."

When U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan visited Israel last week, Netanyahu told him Israel would fight "until absolute victory" and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the war would "last more than several months."

(With input from agencies)