The US State Department refrained from describing leaving children to die in Gaza as a “war crime,” and merely described the incident as a “tragedy.”

In a press statement on Thursday, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller described the discovery of decomposed bodies of children and infants in Al-Nasr Children’s Hospital in Gaza as a “tragic event,” avoiding considering it a “war crime.”

Miller said: "This incident is a tragedy. A tragedy for these children, for their families, for the Palestinian people and for the entire world."

The American official called on Israel to reduce civilian casualties.

In response to a journalist about whether Washington sees these events as a war crime or not, Miller said: “I will never evaluate the situation here. We will reach a decision after completing the process of collecting evidence.”

Regarding a question about whether the United States would form a mission to collect evidence of “war crimes” in Gaza, Miller said: “Currently there is an ongoing conflict, and we are monitoring events closely. But we will not talk about the steps we can take. We are at present in the middle of a major conflict” ".

On November 10, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that Israeli forces surrounded the “Al-Rantisi” and “Al-Nasr Children’s” hospitals, west of Gaza City, and forced medical teams to leave them.

As a result of the (Israeli) occupation’s refusal to remove sick infants from Al-Nasr Hospital and evacuate medical staff, the death of 5 infants was discovered after their decomposed bodies were found.