A top national security official to the U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday that the United States doesn’t believe genocide is happening in Gaza stating that Israel must do more to protect Palestinian civilians.
Despite failed ceasefire talks and Israel’s continuous bombardment of Rafah, Jake Sullivan, White House National Security Advisor said that the determinant for peace lies with the Hamas militant group.
“We believe Israel can and must do more to ensure the protection and wellbeing of innocent civilians. We do not believe what is happening in Gaza is a genocide,” Sullivan told a briefing.
The US was “using the internationally accepted term for genocide, which includes a focus on intent” to reach this assessment, Sullivan added.
Biden wanted to see Hamas defeated but realized that Palestinian civilians were in “hell”, Sullivan said.
Amid criticisms, he said he would take a step back at the White House podium and state the position of Joe Biden’s administration’s administration on the conflict.
President Joe Biden has received backlash from Republicans for stopping weapons shipment to Israel in a bid to persuade Israel to hold off a Rafah offensive as there have been protests at US universities against backing Israel.
“Biden believes that Operation Rafah has got to be connected to a strategic endgame that also answered the question, ‘what comes next?’” Sullivan added.
“This would avoid Israel getting mired in a counterinsurgency campaign that never ends, and ultimately saps Israel’s strength and vitality.”
