Secretary of State Blinken stressed the U.S. concern for the protection of civilians in Gaza, where authorities say that over 16,000 people have been killed.
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The Biden administration issued its strongest criticism yet of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza for its civilian death toll, as the Israel-Hamas war hits the two-month mark.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed the U.S.′ concern for the protection of civilians in the besieged enclave, where local health authorities say that more than 16,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks.
“We are focused ... on the imperative of maximizing efforts to protect civilians, and get not only assistance in but to sustain the higher level of assistance that was reached during the humanitarian pause and actually build on it. And what we’ve seen over the initial days is some important additional steps in the direction of doing just that,” Blinken told press in Washington on Thursday evening.
“Having said that,” he added, “as we stand here almost a week into this campaign in the south after the end of the humanitarian pause ... it remains imperative that Israel put a premium on civilian protection. And there does remain a gap between exactly what I said when I was there, the intent to protect civilians, and the actual results that we’re seeing on the ground.”
Israel expanded ground operations into southern Gaza in early December, after several weeks of telling Gaza’s residents in the northern half of the territory to evacuate south for their safety. Aid organizations and the United Nations have warned of a humanitarian catastrophe as more than 85% of Gaza’s population, or 1.9 million people, are displaced and have nowhere to go.
Other high-ranking Biden administration officials have said in recent weeks that “too many innocent Palestinians have died,” including Vice President Kamala Harris and State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum on Dec. 3, told the audience: “I have personally pushed Israeli leaders to avoid civilian casualties, and to shun irresponsible rhetoric, and to prevent violence by settlers in the West Bank.”