Israel must “distinguish between terrorists and harmless civilians and to guard the lives of harmless civilians,” U.S. Nationwide Safety Advisor Jake Sullivan stated Sunday of Israel’s ongoing battle in opposition to Hamas.
Sullivan’s feedback to CBS Information’s Margaret Brennan got here because the battle reached a brand new stage this weekend, as Israel expanded its floor forces in Gaza whereas ratcheting up its aerial bombardment of the territory.
In a number of U.S. tv interviews on Sunday morning, Sullivan stated the U.S. is constant to ask “exhausting questions” of Israel because it conducts its army operations, which thus far have killed over 7,000 Palestinians, together with almost 3,000 kids, in response to the Gazan well being ministry, which Hamas controls. Sullivan referred to as the deaths of Palestinian civilians a “tragedy.”
“Each hour, on daily basis of this army operation, the IDF [Israel Defense Forces], the Israeli authorities must be taking each doable means out there to them to differentiate between Hamas terrorists who’re professional army targets and civilians who aren’t,” Sullivan stated on CNN. He added that President Joe Biden will reiterate this place in a name Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Sullivan additionally stated Sunday that Netanyahu should “rein in” extremist Jewish settlers within the Israeli-occupied West Financial institution, the place violence in opposition to Palestinians has erupted within the three weeks because the October 7 Hamas assault, by which greater than 1,400 Israelis have been killed. “It’s completely unacceptable to have extremist settler violence in opposition to harmless folks within the West Financial institution,” Sullivan stated. Final week, President Biden described the settler assaults as “pouring gasoline on the fireplace” of the battle.
However Sullivan additionally stated that in relation to Israel’s particular army milestones within the unfolding battle in Gaza, “that’s one thing that finally is as much as Israel. That is their army operation [and] they’ll make that call.”
In response to Sullivan’s name for “humanitarian pauses” within the battle to get hostages out of Gaza, Brennan famous that the U.S. was certainly one of simply 14 international locations that voted on Friday in opposition to a U.N. decision calling for an “rapid, sturdy and sustained humanitarian truce” between the IDF and Hamas militants.
“What lots of people are calling for is only a cease to Israeli army motion in opposition to terrorists, interval. Simply cease, no extra. ‘Israel can’t go after terrorists who performed this largest bloodbath of Jews because the Holocaust,’” Sullivan responded. “Now we have taken the place that Israel has a proper to defend itself in opposition to terrorist assaults.”
“There are loads of sophisticated realities,” he added. “A humanitarian pause could be an excellent factor to get hostages out, however you’ll be able to wager that Hamas will attempt to use that point to their benefit as nicely.”
Sullivan additionally dismissed requires a ceasefire, which grew louder this weekend when each Pope Francis and U.N. Secretary-Common Antonio Gutierrez issued calls for for what the latter referred to as “a right away humanitarian ceasefire,” citing a “humanitarian disaster” that’s “unfolding in entrance of our eyes.”
“From the viewpoint of a ceasefire, what Israel suffered on October 7 was the equal of fifteen 9/11s,” Sullivan stated. “After 9/11, if the terrorists had merely stated, ‘We would like a ceasefire,’ I don’t suppose the USA would have stated, ‘We’re gonna cease going after terrorists.’”
