Israeli raids left tens of thousands of civilian casualties (Anatolia Agency)
Reuters quoted American officials as saying that the United States had established a communication channel with Israel to discuss concerns about the number of civilian casualties or the targeting of civilian facilities during the war on the Gaza Strip.
These officials said that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials, during his meeting with the Israeli war cabinet earlier this month, that Washington wanted a reliable channel to obtain answers regarding reports of some strikes.
Reuters quoted American officials as saying that the Israelis had, in some cases, provided additional information that shed light on an incident, and in other cases they admitted that they had made a mistake.
An American official confirmed to Reuters that the United States had established the new communication channel to enhance Israel’s accountability.
The agency said that during the meeting, Blinken expressed his concern about continuing reports of Israeli raids that either hit humanitarian sites or resulted in the killing of large numbers of civilians.
Increased pressure
The officials explained that opening the canal comes within the framework of increasing pressure from the administration of President Joe Biden on the Israeli government due to the heavy losses inflicted on Palestinian civilians during the war on the Gaza Strip.
It also highlights Washington's frustration with Israel's failure to alleviate the plight of the civilian population, which has been deprived since mid-October of most of the aid that was flowing into the Strip, as well as the provision of adequate medical care to more than 62,000 injured people.
The Biden administration has so far refused to directly criticize Israel over the high Palestinian death toll, even though senior Biden aides have said that “a very large number” of Palestinians have been killed in the conflict.
US officials also refuse to say whether Washington intends to investigate whether Israel's actions on the battlefield violated international rules of war.
Source: Reuters