Israel must do more to protect the lives of Palestinian civilians in Gaza as it proceeds with its military campaign to oust Hamas from the enclave, US President Joe Biden said on Thursday.
“I want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives, not stop going after Hamas, but to be more careful,” Biden said.
It’s his second sharp criticism about how Israel is conducting its military campaign. On Tuesday he accused Israel of “indiscriminately” bombing Gaza.
Biden spoke as US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is in Israel holding discussions with Israeli officials — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Minister Benny Gantz — about the future of the war.
Biden asks Israel to turn down war intensity
He has asked Israel to start transitioning from a high-intensity to a low-intensity military campaign in Gaza.
Hamas has asserted that 18,608 Palestinians have been killed and about 50,594 injured in Gaza war-related violence.
Israel has said that some 7,000 of the fatalities are combatants.
Biden and his administration have been intensely supportive of Israel’s war against Hamas, sparked by the terror group’s killing of 1,200 people and its seizure of some 250 hostages during its infiltration of southern Israel on October 7.
His stance has put him at odds with members of his own party, many of whom oppose the war and several who hold that it is tantamount to genocide.
In an interview with Channel 12, Sullivan said that Israel would conduct its military efforts against Hamas for some time.
“The issue really is when does Israel shift from the high-intensity operations that are underway today, to one that is more precise, more targeted,” he said.