U.S. and Israeli defense chiefs meet as tensions rise over war in Gaza

TEL AVIV — As tensions rise between the two countries, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, on Tuesday, a day after the United States abstained in a United Nations Security Council vote calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. After the historic abstention by one of its closests allies, Israel abruptly canceled the visit of a high-level delegation to Washington this week, but Gallant who arrived Monday stayed on in the capital where he met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Top of the agenda, Israel's plans to launch…