Israel must avoid "significant further displacement" of Palestinian civilians in southern Gaza should it renew its ground campaign aimed at eradicating Hamas, senior U.S. officials said during a briefing with reporters while speaking on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.
Amid mounting international and domestic pressure about the rising Palestinian death toll, the White House has begun to put greater pressure on Israel that the manner of the coming campaign must be "carefully thought through," one of the officials said.
The Israelis were receptive to Washington's concerns, the official added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Israeli Defense Forces, IDF, will eventually restart military operations after the conclusion of the current, temporary cease-fire that has allowed for an exchange of hostages taken by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Israel and Hamas on Monday agreed to extend the truce for an additional two days and to continue swapping hostages for prisoners.
A handout picture released by the IDF showing hostages released by Hamas from the Gaza Strip aboard a military helicopter on their way to a meeting point in the Middle Eastern nation, Nov. 27, 2023.
President Joe Biden has said he would like to see the pause — which has also allowed a surge of much-needed humanitarian aid to get into Gaza — continue as long as feasible.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return this week to the Middle East as Washington hopes to find a way to extend the cease-fire and get more hostages released, the State Department said Monday.
Blinken's trip will mark his third to the region since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas last month.
Washington says it supports Israel's goal of eliminating Hamas' control over Gaza and the threat the militant group poses to Israeli civilians.
Despite the support, the Biden administration has grown more vocal about the need to protect the lives of Palestinian civilians.
Hamas has been known to seek shelter among Gaza's civilian population, and Israeli officials have released videos from northern Gaza of what they said are weapons stockpiles and firing locations placed among civilian infrastructure.
More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began on October 7, roughly two-thirds of them women and minors, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
More than 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mostly civilians killed in the initial attack. At least 77 soldiers have been killed in Israel's ground offensive.
The U.S. believes roughly 2 million Palestinians are now in south and central Gaza.
Washington says humanitarian support networks would be unable to cope with the sort of displacement that has been witnessed in northern Gaza amid Israel's retaliatory strikes and ground operations.
U.S. officials also say Israel is expected to conduct operations in a way that will be "maximally de-conflicted" with the operation of humanitarian aid facilities, and United Nations-supported shelters and core infrastructure, including electricity and water.
The World Health Organization has warned that the war has caused a burgeoning public health crisis that is a recipe for epidemics as displaced Palestinians have been forced to take shelter in cramped homes and camps.
A U.S. official said vaccines are among the medical goods flowing into Gaza, but there has also been a focus on potable water supplies and sanitation to prevent outbreaks of typhoid and cholera.
To that end, the White House has also pushed to get as much fuel into Gaza as possible — something resisted by Israel, particularly in the first weeks of war, citing concerns that it would be siphoned by Hamas.
The U.S. officials said Washington on Tuesday would dispatch the first of three military humanitarian aid flights to northern Egypt carrying medical supplies, food aid and winter items for Gaza's civilian population.
The aid is to be delivered into Gaza by the United Nations.