IDF said to amend Gaza war plans in light of US demands for much-reduced civilian deaths

Israel Defense Forces troops operating in the Gaza Strip in a photo released for publication on December 3, 2023 (Israel Defense Forces)
Israel Defense Forces troops operating in the Gaza Strip in a photo released for publication on December 3, 2023 (Israel Defense Forces)

In the wake of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit on Thursday, when the secretary told Israel it had to ensure much-reduced civilian casualties in its ongoing assault on Hamas in Gaza, the IDF “updated” and “made amendments” to its plans for expanding operations into the southern Gaza Strip, an Israeli diplomatic official is quoted telling Channel 12 news.

Blinken specified that Israel must designate multiple safe zones in southern and central Gaza for civilians to avoid the fighting, avoid the targeting of “life-critical infrastructure” such as hospitals, power stations and water treatment plants, and minimize the displacement of Gazans, among other demands.

“We did not ignore the American points, and this will become clear in the coming few days,” the official was quoted saying in the TV report, which comes as the IDF is gearing up for ground operations in Khan Younis and elsewhere in Gaza following the collapse on Friday of a week-long truce.

The TV report said Israel has also decided to keep humanitarian aid entering Gaza at the same levels as during the truce. It said senior Israeli officials are considering significantly increasing humanitarian aid — including food, medicines, fuel and gas — in light of the US concerns.

The report quotes the Israeli official saying that Blinken and US President Joe Biden, in his most recent phone conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, presented the demands as “a kind of condition: In order to receive continued American support for the achievement of the war goals, Israel must prove that all its plans take the civilian population into consideration, that it reduces to a minimum the evacuation of civilians from their homes, and that it works to provide more and more safe areas for non-combatants.”

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