US Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the civilian death toll in Gaza “has been too high” and has expressed concern at Israel’s military strategy in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
Along with 20 colleagues in the Senate, Murphy sent a letter on Wednesday to US President Joe Biden, a fellow Democrat, urging that Israel “abide by the laws of war”, including protection of civilians, and to “learn from the mistakes the United States made in our fight against terrorism” two decades ago, the French news agency AFP reports.
“I am concerned that if Israel’s strategy and end goal is to defeat Hamas, then this pace of civilian casualties, which certainly comes with a moral cost, also comes with a strategic cost,” Murphy told AFP in an interview.
Israel has a right to defend itself, but avoiding civilian casualties is crucial, Murphy said.
Source: AlJazeera
