The U.S. government is urging Israel to make efforts to effectively identify Gaza residents from Hamas terrorists. U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was the one who specifically said this.
He warned the Israeli government about its responsibility to protect civilians. Sullivan shared his statements before the call between U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which happened on Sunday, Oct. 29.
Here's what Jake Sullivan specifically said to the Israel Defense Forces.
US Urges Israel To Identify Gaza Residents From Hamas Terrorists
Jake Sullivan called on Israel to make efforts to avoid civilian casualties as much as possible, saying that the best thing the IDF can do is to properly distinguish between Hamas terrorists and Gaza civilians.
"The IDF, the Israeli government, should be taking every possible means available to them to distinguish between Hamas -- terrorists, who are legitimate military targets -- and civilians, who are not," explained Sullivan via Yahoo News.
He added that his message will be delivered by Joe Biden during his call with the Israeli PM, which already happened. Sullivan said that POTUS will reiterate the position of the U.S. in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
The White House official said that the United States believes that Palestinian civilians who were killed by Israel's bombardments are just as tragic as Israeli residents who were murdered by the Hamas terrorist group.
Sullivan also explained that there's no denying that Hamas terrorists are using Gaza residents as human shields. But, this doesn't lessen the responsibility of Israel under international humanitarian law and the laws of war.
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How Will IDF Differentiate Gaza Civilians, Hamas Terrorists
As of writing, the Israel Defense Forces hasn't shared their exact plans on how to differentiate Hamas terrorists and Gaza civilians.
According to Reuters, the only thing that the Israeli government does is to encourage Palestinian residents to move south so that they will know they are not Hamas members.
Israel warned that if Gaza civilians don't follow their orders, they risk being identified as Hamas terrorists or accomplices in the militant organization.
After the Israeli government announced its mass evacuation order, millions of civilians who were living in the north of the Gaza Strip have gone southwards to avoid Israel's bombardments.
