In a White House press briefing, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby noted the recent shift in the IDF’s operations in northern Gaza to a lower-intensity conflict, asserting that this change, along with an anticipated similar shift in southern Gaza, will facilitate increased humanitarian aid and enable civilians to return to their homes.

“We are preparing to increase the humanitarian assistance… as well as to help set the conditions for the population to return to north Gaza where the UN hopes to conduct assessment missions over the coming week,” Kirby said.

While Israel has agreed to a United Nations assessment of the situation, it has so far declined to permit evacuated Gazans to return to their homes in the northern Strip. The Israeli government has cited ongoing hostilities as the reason for this decision, insisting on progress in efforts to release hostages before allowing such steps.

“We’re making these preparations because we believe that these lower intensity operations inside Gaza should be able to not only allow for a reduction in civilian casualties, but a more reliable distribution of aid over the coming period,” Kirby said, mentioning that David Satterfield, Biden’s Gaza humanitarian envoy, and US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew were holding discussions with senior Israeli political and military leaders about these issues.

Addressing the broader context, Kirby remarked, “the images coming out of Gaza continue to be heartbreaking and painful,” underscoring the United States’ ongoing efforts to minimize civilian casualties, while pointing out the challenges posed by Hamas’s tactics of operating among civilian populations.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)