US seeks to 'reduce tensions' in Mideast: UN ambassador

By Necva Tastan Sevinc

ISTANBUL (AA) – Amid volatility and conflict, the US is seeking to bring down tensions in the Middle East, said the US ambassador to the UN.

"A broader regional conflict is not inevitable," Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Tuesday in a statement to the UN Security Council, adding: "The United States’ overall goal remains to turn the temperature down in the region, deter and defend against any future attacks, and avoid regional conflict."

- Civilian casualties in Gaza

Thomas-Greenfield expressed Washington's deep concern over the Israeli military's strike last Saturday on a complex including a school and mosque sheltering forcibly displaced people, including women and children, killing at least 100 people.

Saying Israel is obligated to do everything possible within the framework of international humanitarian law to protect civilians, she said: "We mourn every civilian lost in this horrific incident, and in this conflict."

Stressing the need for a cease-fire and prisoner exchange in Gaza, she said: "There is no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delay. It is time to release the hostages, begin the ceasefire, and implement this agreement."

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an attack last October by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

Since then, an ongoing Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians and killed some 92,000.

Over 10 months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.