The United States wants to see results on Israel’s intent to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a press conference in Tel Aviv on Friday.
“Israel selects targets and tries to distinguish between targets that hit Hamas, and those that that might take the lives of innocent civilians,” Sullivan said in response to a question from CNN’s Alex Marquardt.
“What we have consistently said is that Israel has the intent to make sure that it is drawing those distinctions clearly and in a sustainable way. And we want to see the results match up to that,” Sullivan added.
Also during the Tel Aviv press conference, Sullivan said that Hamas embedding themselves among civilians creates an “incredible burden” on the Israel Defense Forces.
“Now that burden does not lessen the IDF’s responsibility to act in a way that distinguishes between terrorist targets and innocent people and to take every precaution to protect civilians and minimise the loss of life,” Sullivan added.
“It also doesn’t lessen the burden, by the way, to ensure that humanitarian assistance flows in sufficient quantities so that the Palestinian people have access to the food, water medicine, sanitation,” Sullivan said, which they “deserve as a basic matter of dignity of human beings.”
Sullivan added that the US has conveyed these messages “quite clearly” to the Israeli people.
Some context: Sullivan will travel to the occupied West Bank on Friday in his push to demonstrate continued US support for Israel in its fight against Hamas, while also urging the Israeli government to take meaningful steps to reduce civilian casualties in Gaza.
A US official told CNN that Sullivan would meet with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah on the second day of his trip to the region.
Sullivan previously met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top government officials on Thursday.
