The White House: “We want humanitarian truces as soon as possible and we continue to discuss this with the Israelis. Civilians should also be spared and more aid trucks should be sent to Gaza.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with US President Joe Biden on Monday evening, where they discussed the latest developments in the war in the Gaza Strip, and they also discussed the possibility of carrying out “humanitarian truces” during the war.

National Security Council spokesman at the White House, John Kirby, said, “Biden and Netanyahu discussed the possibility of carrying out humanitarian truces in the war. We believe that this is the beginning of the discussion, and other talks are scheduled to take place in the coming days.”

He pointed out that they also discussed the situation in the occupied West Bank.

Kirby explained, “The United States is tracking humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, and that is not enough,” adding that “more Americans are scheduled to leave the Gaza Strip today.”

He added, "Changing the positioning of our forces in the Middle East is a message of deterrence to anyone who tries to escalate the conflict. We want the Israelis to reduce civilian casualties and be careful."

According to what was issued by the White House, Israel was informed that “its operations against Hamas must be swift, decisive, and lethal,” adding, “We do not specify for the Israelis their targets in Gaza and we continue to urge them to be careful regarding civilians.”

In this context, the US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) estimated the number of civilians killed in Gaza in the thousands, without providing a specific number.

For its part, the US State Department said that it does not question the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the huge loss of civilian lives.

It added, "We are discussing with Israel and Egypt the issue of bringing fuel into Gaza in a way that helps civilians and not Hamas," while it considered that "Israel has every right to defend itself, and it is important to differentiate between Hamas and civilians."

Source: Arab48