WASHINGTON: The Biden administration told Israel to take every precaution to protect civilians after a military strike in Rafah killed dozens of Palestinians, as it faced calls from some fellow Democrats to halt military shipments to Israel.
鈥淚srael has a right to go after Hamas, and we understand this strike killed two senior Hamas terrorists who are responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians,鈥� a National Security Council spokesperson said. 鈥淏ut as we鈥檝e been clear, Israel must take every precaution possible to protect civilians.
Biden has faced increasing pressure from within his own party to scale back support for Israel, even before the airstrike on Sunday night that set tents and rickety metal shelters ablaze in a Rafah camp, killing 45 people.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a prominent Democratic lawmaker in the House of Representatives, on Monday called the strike 鈥渁n indefensible atrocity,鈥� adding in a social media post that 鈥渋t is long past time for the President to live up to his word and suspend military aid.鈥�
鈥淗orrific and gut wrenching images coming out of Rafah last night,鈥� Representative Ayanna Pressley said in a social media post. 鈥淗ow much longer will the US stand by while the Israeli military slaughters and mutilates Palestinian babies?鈥�
Representative Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American serving in Congress, called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a 鈥済enocidal maniac.鈥�
Netanyahu on Monday said the strike was not intended to cause civilian casualties but went 鈥渢ragically wrong.鈥�
The NSC spokesperson said the US government was 鈥渁ctively engaging鈥� with the Israeli military and others on the ground to assess what happened.
Almost half of Democratic voters disapprove of Biden鈥檚 handling of the Israel-Hamas war, according to a recent poll from Reuters/Ipsos.
Weeks of campus protests about the war have added to the pressure, and wider demands for a permanent ceasefire have put Biden鈥檚 reelection campaign on the defensive.