Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Sunday, December 3, 2023
From the Liveblog of
Sunday, December 3, 2023
White House: Israel is ‘making an effort’ to protect civilians in Gaza
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, on November 30, 2023. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP)
A senior White House official says he believes Israel is “making an effort” to minimize civilian deaths in Gaza.
Speaking on the US Sunday talk shows, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby also insists that US intelligence was unaware of any secret, advanced Hamas blueprint for its brutal October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the conflict.
“We believe they have been receptive to our messages here of trying to minimalize civilian casualties,” Kirby says, including by publishing online a map of places where Gazans could go to find safety. “There’s not a whole lot of modern militaries that would do that… to telegraph their punches in that way. So they are making an effort.”
