The White House said Friday it is mindful of “extreme human suffering” in Gaza and is working to lessen the pain after the U.N.’s chief sounded the alarm that the Palestinian enclave is on the brink of a “total collapse.”
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, reacting to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the administration shares “international concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.”
He said President Biden is leading the global effort to increase the flow of humanitarian supplies, fuel and medicine into Gaza while it urges Israel to be careful in its targeting of Hamas terrorists.
“We’re mindful of the extreme humanitarian suffering inside Gaza, and we’re doing everything we can to help alleviate that,” Mr. Kirby said.
The Israelis are bombarding the Gaza Strip between Israel and Egypt in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks that killed over 1,000 people in southern Israeli towns and resulted in scores more taken hostage.
Mr. Guterres, speaking to the U.N. Security Council in New York, said of Gaza: “We are at a breaking point. There is a high risk of a total collapse of the humanitarian system.”
The U.S. and U.K. have objected to a U.N. resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.
Mr. Kirby said Israel has been responsive at times to U.S. requests. He pointed to the Jewish state’s decision to shrink its invading force into northern Gaza after consultations with U.S. military advisers who had engaged in urban warfare in places like Mosul and Fallujah during the Iraq War.
“We certainly all recognize more can be done to try to reduce civilian casualties, and we’re going to keep working with our Israeli counterparts to that end,” Mr. Kirby said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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