Israel will not attempt to apply “the concept of siege” to the Gaza Strip, according to a senior White House official who emphasized that President Joe Biden will not draw “red lines” for Israel’s response to Hamas.
“My understanding is that the concept of siege is not something that, in fact, is going to be pursued by the Israeli government,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Tuesday. “But we are consulting with the Israeli government about their actions in this regard.”
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cast the Jewish state’s response to the unprecedented Hamas attack in civilizational terms, with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declaring a “complete siege” of Gaza. Yet Sullivan offered that impression following Biden’s third phone call with Netanyahu, although he was at pains not to be seen attempting to curb Netanyahu’s reaction.
“I’m not here to draw red lines or issue warnings or give lectures to anybody,” Sullivan said. “I’m here to say that the president has given us direction to take a series of actions. We are undertaking those actions, and we will continue to do so.”
Gallant announced an intent to blockade the strip — “No electricity, no food, no water, no gas — it’s all closed,” he said Monday — as Israeli Defense Forces bombarded urban centers. Netanyahu urged Palestinian civilians to evacuate, but that exhortation reportedly drew pushback from Egypt, which maintains a sealed border with Gaza breached by just a single border crossing.
“In recent days, the IDF has been instructing the population inside of the Gaza Strip to distance themselves from designated areas,” the IDF said Tuesday amid reports that they have bombed the crossing. “We emphasize that there is no official call by Israel for residents of the Gaza Strip to exit into Egypt.”
The shocking brutality of the Hamas attack galvanized an outpouring of statements of support from world leaders, along with three phone calls between Biden and Netanyahu, who previously had a frosty relationship. Biden condemned the “bloodthirstiness” of the Hamas terrorists, whom he likened to ISIS before offering a carefully worded reminder of Israel’s human rights obligations.
“I told [Netanyahu] if the United States experienced what Israel is experiencing, our response would be swift, decisive, and overwhelming,” Biden said Tuesday. “We also discussed how democracies like Israel and the United States are stronger and more secure when we act according to the rule of law. Terrorists purposefully target civilians, kill them. We uphold the laws of war — the law of war. It matters. There’s a difference.”
Gallant’s siege rhetoric drew more overt criticism from the United Nations and other Western officials. “The imposition of sieges that endanger the lives of civilians by depriving them of goods essential for their survival is prohibited under international humanitarian law,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said Tuesday. “We know from bitter experience that vengeance is not the answer, and ultimately innocent civilians pay the price.”
European Union High Representative Josep Borrell likewise faulted the Israelis for flouting international law, although he affirmed their right to defend themselves against Hamas terrorists.
“Israel has the right to defend [itself], but it has to be done according to the right of international law, humanitarian law. Some decisions are against this international law,” Borrell said Tuesday. “Not all the Palestinian people are terrorists. So, a collective punishment against all Palestinians will be unfair and unproductive. It will be against our interests, and against the interests of the peace.”
Borrell also noted that the European Union would “have to increase our humanitarian support to the victims of this tragedy,” in an apparent repudiation of an EU commissioner’s impromptu announcement that they would halt aid to the Palestinian territories.
“We consider Hamas a terrorist organization and what they have done shows — certainly — that they behave like this. But the Palestinian Authority is another thing,” Borrell said. “The cooperation [with] the Palestinian Authority has to continue, and the funding has to continue, and the payments should not be interrupted.”
Biden’s administration endorsed that decision. “We do not have any quarrel with the Palestinian people, which is why we think it’s important to continue to provide humanitarian aid that directly benefits them, not the terrorists who ultimately are going to be responsible for the loss of many Palestinian lives,” State Department spokesman Matt Miller told reporters on Tuesday.
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Miller emphasized that Hamas would bear responsibility for Palestinian civilians killed during the operation.
“The Hamas terrorists who launched this terrorist attack — knowing that it would produce the loss of not just direct Israeli lives, who they took in their incursions across the border, but also the loss of Palestinian civilian life — they ultimately bear the responsibility for those acts,” the State Department spokesman said. “Israel has a right to conduct an aggressive response, to respond to the terrorism that’s been committed against its citizens. We expect them to follow international law. We believe that they will.”
