US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed his concern over the civilian death toll in Gaza during a meeting with a pair of visiting senior Israeli officials on Monday,
The Times of Israel reports.
The Israeli military has launched several deadly attacks in recent days including close to a refugee camp and multiple UN-run schools where Hamas claimed civilians were sheltering. Israel, which targeted two senior Hamas terror chiefs in one of the attacks, says Hamas embeds its fighters among the civilian population and uses residential areas as well as UN facilities as bases to launch attacks or store weapons and military equipment.
Blinken told two influential Israeli officials — Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi — that the US had “serious concern about the recent civilian casualties in Gaza,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
Miller added, “We have seen civilian casualties come down from the high points of the conflict and even from where they were say six weeks, two months ago; but they still remain unacceptably high. We continue to see far too many civilians killed in this conflict.”
The trio also discussed the ongoing negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage agreement between Israel and Hamas, focusing on practical steps for closing the gaps between the sides, Miller said.
They also discussed planning for the post-war management of Gaza, improving the distribution of humanitarian aid in the Strip, and the ongoing tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
Later Monday, Dermer and Hanegbi were to participate in the US-Israel Strategic Consultative Group at the White House, covering cooperation on a range of bilateral issues including the Iran nuclear threat.
The SCG was tentatively planned to take place last month, but was postponed after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly accused the US of withholding weapons from Israel.
