Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak called US Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Sunday, the day after Israeli ground forces pushed into Gaza, the Pentagon said Monday.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman would not comment on the substance of their conversation, but confirmed that " Ehud Barak did phone Secretary Gates on Sunday."
Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, learned of the Israeli ground offensive shortly before it began from his Israeli counterpart, a US military official said.
Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, chief of staff of the Israeli Defense Forces, relayed "an official notification of the commencement of the ground operation" through the Israeli defense attache in Washington, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
