The US has warned Israel that it must fight more surgically and avoid further mass displacement of Palestinians in its war against Hamas to avoid a humanitarian crisis that overwhelms the world’s ability to respond, according to senior Biden administration officials. The White House has told Israel that replicating the scale of its bombardment in northern Gaza as it makes an expected push into southern Gaza once the recent pause in fighting ends would produce a crisis beyond the capacity of any humanitarian support network, the officials said.The UN has said the fighting has already displaced most of Gaza’s population of 2.2 million.
The statements are the Biden administration’s strongest warning to Israeli officials to date about the next phase of their military operation. For weeks, the White House has been careful to say it does not dictate how Israel conducts its military operations, but President Biden and senior members of his staff have grown more vocal as the humanitarian crisis has unfolded. They also come as the administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they were ramping up humanitarian aid.
Among other things, US officials have told the Israelis that any coming military operations should not hamper the flow of power and water or impede the work of hospitals and UN-supported shelters. Israel’s government was receptive to the requests, one official said.