The United States is emphasizing that Hamas’s move to use Palestinian civilians as human shields in Gaza does not excuse Israel from its responsibility to protect civilians.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CBS’s Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation” that the U.S. is “very focused” on how militant group Hamas is using civilians as human shields in Gaza as Israel continues to bombard the territory. He said Hamas militants are “hiding behind civilians” as Israel vows to eliminate the group, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S.
“They’re putting rockets and other terrorist infrastructure in civilian areas. That creates an added burden for the Israeli Defense Forces,” he said. “But it does not lessen their responsibility to distinguish between terrorists and innocent civilians and to protect the lives of innocent civilians as they conduct this military operation.”
“That’s true of striking from the air. It is true of going in on the ground, and this is something that we talk about with the Israelis on a daily basis,” he said.
Sullivan reiterated that the U.S. has maintained that all innocent lives in Israel and Gaza should be protected. When asked if the U.S. is requesting the Israeli military “to be more limited in its tactics or more strategic” since the U.S. provides weapons and Israel with aid every year, Sullivan said that they will hold Israel accountable if it violates the law of armed conflict.
“The United States of America when we transfer weapons to another country, whether it’s Israel or anyone else, requests, requires an assurance that those weapons will be used in accordance with the law of armed conflict, and we seek accountability to ensure that that is the case, we will continue to do that,” he said.
“And we do not stand for the killing of innocent people, whether it be Palestinian, Israeli or otherwise. And we weep and grieve for every last life and will continue to do so,” he added.
Thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed on both sides of the conflict so far. Israel has upped its ground operations into Gaza over the weekend, which is three weeks after Hamas infiltrated Israel in a deadly attack on Oct. 7. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, mostly in that initial attack.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry reported that more than 8,000 people in Gaza have died since the start of the Israeli offensive earlier this month, the majority of which are women and children.