ADDS STATE DEPARTMENT STATEMENT
By Servet Gunerigok and Iclal Turan
WASHINGTON (AA) - The US does not support Israeli military operations in the southern Gaza region unless there is a plan to protect civilians, the White House said Tuesday.
"As they now consider moving their operations to the south, we have said we don't support those kinds of operations absent a cohesive plan by the Israelis to factor in how they're going to be able to protect what is now mathematically, a dramatically increased civilian population in the south," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said during a webinar.
He emphasized the necessity for "a clearly articulated plan on how they intend to safeguard the lives of the hundreds of thousands of people who have relocated to the area at the request of the Israelis."
"There’s an obligation there for them to factor that into their planning," added Kirby.
Israel issued leaflets in southern Gaza last week, urging civilians to evacuate. It indicated Israel's potential expansion of its ground operation against Hamas to the southern part of the enclave.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the US made clear to the Israelis that “they should not commence with further activities in the south until they have taken the proper steps to account for humanitarian needs.”
Noting that nearly 100,000 Palestinians have fled to the south from the north of Gaza, he said: “We would want to ensure that those people are properly protected.”
The US is having “fairly detailed conversations” with Israel about steps they can take to protect civilians, to increase humanitarian access, especially in the south, according to Miller.
“We think it's important that those civilians now have a way to put themselves out of harm's way,” he added.
Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks in the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.
Thousands of buildings, including hospitals, mosques and churches have been damaged or destroyed in the Israeli offensive.
An Israeli blockade has also cut off Gaza from fuel, electricity and water supplies, and reduced aid deliveries to a trickle.