US urges Israel to ‘redouble efforts’ to avoid casualties

Washington steps up its critique of Israel’s airstrikes against targets in the Gaza Strip Thursday, with State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki casting doubt as to whether Israel was really taking all steps possible to avoid civilian casualties.

After two separate incidents of Gazan children being killed were reported in as many days, Psaki says that the State Department is “increasingly concerned about the safety and security of civilians on both sides” and that the US was “asking for a redoubling of efforts moving forward to prevent civilian casualties given the events of the past couple days.”

Psaki tells reporters that Secretary of State John Kerry addressed the issue in a call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the past 24 hours. “We believe there is more that can be done” to protect civilians, Psaki says.

Expanding on her reaction to Wednesday’s killing of four Gazan children playing by the city’s fishing pier, Psaki describes the US as “heartbroken” by reports of children’s deaths, and that – regarding the specific incident Wednesday– “the reports were horrifying, the photos were horrifying and the video was horrifying.”

Psaki says State Department officials, including Kerry “were heartened to see the statement by President Shimon Peres in which he spoke to the deaths of these children” but underscores the fact that they did not consider Peres’s statement to be a condemnation of the children’s deaths.

— Rebecca Shimoni Stoil