US Asking Israel to Avoid Civilian Displacements in Any South Gaza Offensive 

Displaced Palestinians gather next to tents sheltering people in Khan Yunis near the border fence between Israel and the southern Gaza Strip on November 27, 2023, amid a truce in battles between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Displaced Palestinians gather next to tents sheltering people in Khan Yunis near the border fence between Israel and the southern Gaza Strip on November 27, 2023, amid a truce in battles between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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US Asking Israel to Avoid Civilian Displacements in Any South Gaza Offensive 

Displaced Palestinians gather next to tents sheltering people in Khan Yunis near the border fence between Israel and the southern Gaza Strip on November 27, 2023, amid a truce in battles between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Displaced Palestinians gather next to tents sheltering people in Khan Yunis near the border fence between Israel and the southern Gaza Strip on November 27, 2023, amid a truce in battles between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

The US is asking Israel to take greater care to protect civilians and limit damage to infrastructure if it launches an offensive in southern Gaza to avoid further displacements that would overwhelm humanitarian efforts, senior US officials said.

The Israeli offensive in northern Gaza has proven devastating, with thousands of Palestinians killed and vast numbers of survivors left homeless and forced to flee south by a relentless bombing campaign and a lack of essentials such as food, power and water.

As Israel begins to look toward south Gaza to continue battling Hamas militants after a pause in fighting to release hostages, US officials said they have been talking to the Israelis about taking greater care in the south, where there were now about 2 million people.

The message has been delivered from President Joe Biden on down, the officials told reporters on a conference call.

"We have reinforced this in very clear language with the government of Israel - very important that the conduct of the Israeli campaign when it moves to the south must be done in a way that is to a maximum extent not designed to produce significant further displacement of persons," one official said.

"You cannot have the sort of scale of displacement that took place in the north, replicated in the south. It will be beyond disruptive, it will be beyond the capacity of any humanitarian support network," the official said, adding: "It can't happen."

The official said the campaign needed to be "deconflicted" from power, water, humanitarian sites and hospitals in south and central Gaza, meaning avoid attacks on those types of infrastructure sites.

He said the Israelis had been receptive to the notion "that a different type of campaign has to be conducted in the south."

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday described an extended truce between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas as "a glimpse of hope and humanity," but warned it was not enough time to meet the aid needs of the Gaza Strip.

Mediator Qatar said on Monday the initial four-day truce had been extended by two days, continuing a pause in seven weeks of warfare that has killed thousands and laid waste to the Palestinian enclave.

A second US official said Washington would like to see the humanitarian pause extended as long as possible.

The official said the first of three relief aid flights conducted by the US military would land in northern Sinai on Tuesday carrying badly needed supplies for Gaza, with two more planned in coming days.

The flights would bring medical items, food aid and winter items that would be delivered by the United Nations.

The officials said aid deliveries to Gaza were currently running at about 240 truckloads a day, but this was nowhere near enough to meet needs.

They said the effort would need to turn to commercial contracts to get deliveries up to 400 trucks a day and the US side had been discussing this with Israel.

"To get that volume of assistance, inspection procedures will need to be increased and enhanced and you're going to need to resort to commercial contracting within Gaza to meet the trucks coming in from Egypt," the first official said.

"We hope that after this pause concludes that can be phase two of the humanitarian program," he said.



US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
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US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)

The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security.

"Humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon have significantly deteriorated due to tensions between Hezbollah and Israel," Biden said in the memo.

"While I remain focused on de-escalating the situation and improving humanitarian conditions, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Lebanese nationals who are present in the United States."

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a "support front" with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel's military assault in Gaza.

The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

On the Israeli side, 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.