The United States has expressed concern over a potential Israeli military operation in Rafah, and urged the Israeli authorities to focus on the need to ensure the evacuation of Palestinian civilians and the flow of humanitarian aid as Israeli forces continue attacks targeting Hamas militants in Gaza.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin made this call when he spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant Wednesday to continue their regular dialogue on U.S. and Israeli efforts to ensure the defeat of Hamas and secure the release of all hostages.
Austin expressed his outrage at the Israeli strike on a World Central Kitchen humanitarian aid convoy that killed seven aid workers, including an American citizen. He stressed the need to immediately take concrete steps to protect aid workers and Palestinian civilians in Gaza after repeated coordination failures with foreign aid groups.
The U.S. Defense chief urged his Israeli counterpart to conduct a swift and transparent investigation to share their conclusions publicly, and to hold those responsible to account.
Austin stressed to Gallant that this tragedy makes it more difficult to flood the zone with humanitarian assistance. Austin also raised the need to see a rapid increase of aid coming through all crossings in the coming days, particularly to communities in northern Gaza that are at risk of famine.
President Joe Biden has earlier blamed Israel for not doing enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians. He recalled that the United States has repeatedly urged Israel to deconflict their military operations against Hamas with humanitarian operations in order to avoid civilian casualties.
World Central Kitchen, the not-for-profit non-governmental organization devoted to providing meals in conflict zones, has suspended its operations in Gaza after the deadly strike claimed the lives of its seven volunteers.
Following the deadly strike, Jamie McGoldrick, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory repeated appeals to all parties to the conflict, including the Government of Israel, to respect international humanitarian law, which prohibits the targeting of humanitarian personnel.
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