President Joe Biden is increasingly taking a tougher stance on Israel, urging the ally to exercise more caution as it tries to eliminate Hamas, the terrorist organization that is rooted in the Gaza Strip and carried out the deadliest attack in Israel’s history two months ago.
“I want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives,” Biden said Thursday. “Not stop going after Hamas, but be more careful.”
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Biden’s comments come as his national security adviser Jake Sullivan tries to push the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to reduce its “high-intensity operations” in Gaza. Sullivan met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other members of the Israeli war Cabinet on Thursday. Prior to his Israel visit, he stopped in Saudi Arabia to meet with Prime Minister and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“[Sullivan] did talk about possible transitioning from what we would call high-intensity operations, which is what we’re seeing them do now, to lower intensity operations sometime in the near future,” National Security Council coordinator John Kirby told reporters. “But I don’t want to put a time stamp on it.”
Israel has “said they’re going to do and they’ll do it in their due course,” he added. “But again, I don’t want to get into too much detail here from this particular podium about that.”
The death toll, provided by the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, is up to over 18,000 people, many of whom are women and children. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in their death toll, while Israeli leaders have said roughly 7,000 Hamas militants have been killed, meaning more than 10,000 civilians have been killed in the nine weeks of war.
Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure has largely collapsed, and there is a growing humanitarian problem in the strip.
On Tuesday, Biden told a group of Democratic donors that Israel is “starting to lose that support by indiscriminate bombing that takes place,” which was a notable comment given the administration’s continued support for Israel’s campaign even as it faces increasing international pressure.
Between 40-45% of the air-to-ground munitions Israel has used in Gaza have been unguided, often called “dumb bombs,” CNN reported Thursday, citing an assessment from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said during Thursday’s press briefing that he could not confirm the report.
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Unguided mentions are usually less precise and generally pose a greater threat to anyone nearby, including civilians. Gaza’s already dense population has been further consolidated into small safe pockets of the enclave, creating even more significant risks for civilians.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will travel to the Middle East this weekend, where he will meet with defense officials from Israel, Qatar, and Bahrain.
