As the death toll in Gaza tops 10,000, the Biden administration faces growing pressure at home and abroad to compel Israel to take steps to minimize civilian deaths in its drive to oust Hamas militants who attacked it on Oct. 7.
Quick Read
- U.S. officials are advocating for the protection of lives in the Gaza Strip and pressing for a ceasefire to allow humanitarian efforts, including food distribution and safe relocation of residents.
- Despite these efforts, critics claim the U.S. has not done enough to prevent civilian casualties following a month of Israeli bombings, as the death toll reported by Gazan health authorities exceeds 10,000.
- Public opinion in the U.S. shows a majority in favor of negotiations to move Gazan citizens from danger.
- Senator Bernie Sanders acknowledges Israel’s right to self-defense but condemns the large-scale loss of civilian lives, suggesting the U.S. should leverage its substantial military aid to influence Israel’s military tactics.
- The U.S. is assisting Israel with expertise on minimizing civilian casualties and has advised against targeting certain areas in Gaza.
- Despite Secretary of State Antony Blinken‘s visits to the Middle East, there’s been little progress in convincing Israel to accept a humanitarian pause, as requested by Washington.
- Israel’s stance is influenced by its desire to weaken Hamas and hesitancy to allow humanitarian concessions that might relieve pressure on the militant group.
- The U.S. provides substantial military aid to Israel, with President Biden requesting an additional $14 billion since the Hamas attacks, without conditions related to the prioritization of reducing harm to civilians.
- While the U.S. has conditioned military aid in other instances, such as with Ukraine and Saudi Arabia, imposing conditions on aid to Israel is seen as unlikely due to congressional opposition.
- The Biden administration favors a “humanitarian pause” rather than a ceasefire, which it believes would allow Hamas to reorganize; Israel opposes both.
- U.S. lawmakers who support a ceasefire agree on the necessity of confronting Hamas but warn that Israel’s current strategy may lead to further radicalization among Palestinians.
- Former President Barack Obama spoke on the broader conflict, acknowledging the suffering of Palestinians and suggesting a shared responsibility for the ongoing violence.
The Associated Press has the story:
US struggles to curb Israel’s Gaza bombardment, despite pressure at home & abroad
Newslooks- WASHINGTON (AP)
U.S. officials are publicly and privately stressing the need to protect human lives in the Gaza Strip, where the Islamist militant Hamas group rules over 2.3 million Palestinians, including pushing for a pause in fighting to get food in and residents to relocate.
Critics say the U.S. efforts are falling short after a month of Israeli bombardments on civilians. On Monday, the leaders of several major United Nations bodies united behind a call for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, where health authorities said the death toll topped 10,000.
A sizable majority of Americans would like to see the U.S. negotiate to get Gaza citizens out of harm’s way, polling shows.
Independent U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders said on Sunday that Israel had every right to defend itself against the “awful terrorist organization” Hamas.
“But what Israel does not, in my view, have a right to do is to kill thousands and thousands of innocent men, women and children who had nothing to do with that attack,” Sanders told CNN’s “State of the Union” program.
Sanders, a Democratic presidential hopeful in years past, echoed the sentiments of many of President Joe Biden’s fellow Democrats, human rights groups and European and Middle East governments pushing for restraint.
Given the U.S. gives Israel $3.8 billion a year in military aid, Sanders said, “We have a right to say, ‘Sorry, you need a new military strategy.'”
U.S. officials have rebuffed putting any conditions on aid, but several have voiced frustration with their inability to persuade Israel to show more restraint in its attacks on Gaza.
The Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in which Israel says Hamas gunmen killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 240 hostages to Gaza, dealt a psychological blow, exposed security vulnerabilities and dispelled an aura of invincibility.
Israeli leaders believe the only way to repair that damage is with robust retaliatory action, say several U.S. officials, and calls for restraint are not being heard. Israeli officials say Hamas uses civilians and hospitals as cover and prevents civilians from leaving combat zones.
US SEEKS TO MINIMIZE CIVILIAN CASUALTIES
U.S. officials who specialize in the conduct of military campaigns are advising Israel on how to minimize civilian casualties while Washington pushes Israel to avoid some targets in Gaza, said a senior State Department official who traveled with Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region.
Blinken completed his second Middle East tour to the region since Oct. 7 but with no apparent progress on persuading Israel to accept the humanitarian pause Washington is seeking.
Multiple U.S. officials say they have been able to influence its conduct in the war somewhat. But any reduction in the number of strikes in recent days has been “swallowed up” by images of strikes that hit civilians, one official said.
Israel wants to “squeeze” Hamas and sees any concessions to humanitarian access as easing pressure on the group, but has moved from an initial position where “three (aid) trucks was too much,” said a senior State Department official.
A U.S. official said on Monday there were fewer than 30 aid trucks over the last 24 hours which brought the total number to 476. In Baghdad on Sunday, Blinken said the number of aid trucks was “grossly insufficient.”
US IMPOSES NO CONDITIONS ON AID TO ISRAEL
The $3.8 billion in aid cited by Sanders is a 10-year, $38 billion military assistance package signed under former President Barack Obama. At the time it was the most military aid the U.S. had given any country.
Biden has asked Congress for another $14 billion in aid for Israel since the Hamas attacks.
Asked in London last week whether the U.S. should condition aid to Israel on prioritizing reducing harm to civilians, Vice President Kamala Harris said, “We are not going to create any conditions on the support that we are giving Israel to defend itself.”
The United States has attached conditions to military aid and deals with other countries, including requiring Ukraine to agree not to hit targets inside Russia with long-range rocket systems last May, and selling Saudi Arabia only defensive arms.
Putting conditions on aid to Israel is unlikely, and would be opposed by Republicans and many Democrats in Congress, said Aaron David Miller, a Middle East analyst and former State Department official.
CEASEFIRE VS PAUSE
Israel and the Biden administration have repeatedly rejected growing calls for a ceasefire on grounds it would allow the Iran-backed Islamist militants who lead Gaza to regroup. The administration favors a “humanitarian pause,” which it views as something less than a ceasefire, but Israel stands opposed.
“There is limited leverage the U.S. has on shaping the contours of the operation,” said Raphael Cohen, a political analyst with Rand Corporation, beyond trying to get Americans out and humanitarian aid in.
The Israeli government mindset right now appears to be that the world is turning against it but that that is the cost of rooting Hamas out of Gaza. “If that is your framework, there is a limit to how much international pressure is going to matter,” Cohen said.
U.S. lawmakers who back a ceasefire support Israel eradicating the Iranian-backed Hamas, but some say Israel’s strategy will backfire.
“When you kill thousands and thousands of Palestinians, and thousands of children, and you bomb refugee camps, even if you are taking out some Hamas leaders … if you keep doing that, you will radicalize the population and another Hamas will arise,” said U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, leader of Democrats’ progressive caucus.
Former President Barack Obama raised the idea of U.S. culpability in an interview released over the weekend. “What Hamas did was horrific and there’s no justification for it. And what is also true is that the occupation and what’s happening to Palestinians is unbearable,” he said.
“You have to admit,” Obama said, “that nobody’s hands are clean, that all of us are complicit to some degree.”
