US presses IDF to protect Palestinian civilians if Gaza war moves south

The United States insisted that Israel must do a better job of protecting Palestinian civilians should the IDF’s military campaign to oust Hamas from Gaza move into the southern area of the Strip if the war resumes this weekend.

“We do not support a move to the south, unless or until they have adequately accounted for the protection of innocent civilian life in southern Gaza,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken passed on that same message during his visit to Israel Thursday where he spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and participated in a meeting of the war cabinet.

Conditions placed on Israel

“The way Israel defends itself matters,” Blinken told reporters after that meeting.

“It’s imperative that Israel acts in accordance with international humanitarian law and the laws of war, even when confuting a terror group that respects neither,” Blinken said. 

Before the IDF pushes into southern Gaza, “Israel must put in place a civilian protection plan that minimizes the loss of civilian life,” he said, adding that was understood that Hamas embeds itself in civilian centers thereby increasing the chances of human life.

The scale of the loss of human life can not be repeated in the south, Blinken said as he referenced the IDF campaign in northern Gaza. Hamas has asserted that over 14,800 Palestinians were killed as a result of violence in that war, and another 1.9 million out of Gaza’s 2.7 million population were displaced. 

Israel must also avoid the “significant displacement of civilians,” Blinken said, adding that he also spoke expanding humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza. 

“We continue to work urgently to get more aid in and to get it in faster,” he said. “It’s even more imperative as winter sets in.

The expectations of Hamas

He stressed that the US supported Israel’s right to defense, particularly given the brutal nature of Hamas’ October 7 attack that sparked the war. In that attack Hamas killed over 1,200 people and seized some 240 hostage.

There are steps that Hamas could take here as well, he said, including stopping its plans to destroy Israel and kill Jews. 

Blinken spoke as Israel welcomed home two more hostages and prepared to see the release of eight more later in the night, a move that would bring the total of Israel women and children freed to 83 since the Gaza war was put on hold on November 22.

Qatar and Egypt, which mediated the hostage deal, worked on Thursday to extend the temporary truce into Sunday morning.

Qatari and Egyptian officials worked off of the existing formula approved last week of ten live hostages for every 24 hours of a “pause” in the war. 

Thursday’s lull was agreed to only in the morning, minutes before the truce was set to expire. It has become increasingly difficult for Hamas to fulfill the terms of the deal, given that it does not have all the female and child hostages and there is speculation that some were killed in captivity.

Talks have begun on the more complex issue of a deal that would allow for the release of the male captives, including soldiers. Hamas has insisted that such a deal for soldiers would have to include a permanent ceasefire. Qatar has said it wants to negotiate an end to the war. Israel has insisted that its military campaign will resume until it’s defeated Hamas.

Blinken in Israel worked on ensuring the lull in the war was extended even as it delved into the details about what the war’s resumption could look like.

He stressed the United States' commitment to ensuring that all the hostages were released.

“Hamas should release everyone right now,” Blinken said. 

In Washington, Kirby confirmed that the initial hostage deal had included an understanding that the International Committee of the Red Cross would be able to visit the hostages.

Kirby said it was clear Israel intended to resume its military campaign once the hostage release deals had ended.  

“As they make that decision they’ll continue to find support from the US” including in the form of assistance with military weaponry.” 

“If anyone is guessing and wondering whether Hamas has murderous intentions against the Israeli people look at what happened in Jerusalem today,” Kirby said as he referenced the terror attack in Jerusalem in which three Israeli civilians were killed.