White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby warned that more civilian casualties in Gaza should be expected as Israel continues its campaign against Hamas.
Kirby made the observation during a Tuesday press briefing at the White House, saying the casualties are an unfortunate reality of war even as Israel strictly targets Hamas positions. Hamas-run authorities in Gaza say 5,087 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since Oct. 7, though it is unclear how many of those were members of Hamas.
“This is war. It is combat. It is bloody. It is ugly, and it’s going to be messy. And innocent civilians are going to be hurt going forward,” Kirby told reporters. “I wish I could tell you something different. I wish that that wasn’t going to happen, but it is going to happen.”
“That doesn’t make it right. It doesn’t make it dismissible. It doesn’t mean that we aren’t going to still express concerns about that and do everything we can to help the Israelis do everything they can to minimize it. But that is, unfortunately, the nature of conflict,” he added.
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Israel and Hamas have exchanged thousands of rockets and airstrikes in the 18 days since Hamas’ unprecedented Oct. 7 assault, which claimed the lives of at least 1,400 Israelis.
Israeli forces continued their airstrike campaign against Hamas on Tuesday, striking more than 400 terrorist targets in the past 24 hours, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The Israeli military is conducting a “wide-scale operation” to eradicate Hamas.
Israeli forces have been massed at the Gaza border poised for a ground invasion for more than a week, but no order has come down. Israeli officials say the delay is due to strategic considerations.
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Meanwhile, President Biden’s administration has urged Israel to delay its invasion to provide more time for hostage negotiations. More than 200 hostages of various nationalities remain in Hamas custody.
Hamas has so far released four hostages — two Americans and two Israelis — following negotiations with Qatari officials.
Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
