Biden administration says more civilians have died in Gaza than Hamas terrorists

President Joe Biden’s administration believes more civilians have been killed in Gaza than Hamas terrorists.

In a May 12 interview on CBS News, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. government concurs with an Israeli assessment that 16,000 civilians and 14,000 terrorists have been killed since the outbreak of war.

“While Israel has processes, procedures, rules, regulations to try to minimize civilian harm, given the impact that this operation, this war in Gaza has had on the civilian population…those have not been applied consistently and effectively,” Blinken said.

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The interview comes as the Israel-Hamas war, which is entering its seventh month, has led to widespread destruction in Gaza. In addition to tens of thousands of deaths, the majority of the territory’s residents have been displaced and many face a “full blown famine,” according to United Nations reports.

“Given the totality of what we’ve seen in terms of civilian suffering — in terms of children, women, men caught in this crossfire Hamas is making who’ve been killed or been injured — it’s reasonable to assess that in a number of instances, Israel has not acted in a manner that’s consistent with international humanitarian law,” Blinken added.

Blinken also spoke about a newly released State Department report on the Israeli military’s conduct, which was required under a presidential national security memorandum.

He said the report did not conclude that the Israeli military has violated U.S. laws and arms sharing agreements.

“We’ve concluded is in the case of the the use of weapons, as you said, this is an extraordinarily complex military environment,” Blinken said. “That makes it very difficult to determine, particularly in the midst of war, exactly what happened and to draw any final conclusions from any one incident.”

He added that American assessments of the war will remain ongoing.

The interview comes just days after Biden said he would pause the transfer of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel if it invades Rafah, a city in southern Gaza where more than 1 million people are estimated to have taken shelter.

“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which (the Israeli military) go after population centers,” the president told CNN on May 9.

“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah — they haven’t gone in Rafah yet — if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities — that deal with that problem,” he added.

The president’s announcement sparked mixed reactions from lawmakers, with progressives hailing it as a policy win, while Republicans have condemned the move as one that would bolster Hamas, according to Politico.

“I think this is really speaking to the large swath of the Democratic Caucus that needs to see a change,” Rep. Becca Balint, a Democrat from Vermont, told the outlet. “It has been very satisfying to see the message, I believe, is getting through, it’s getting delivered.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, in a post on X formerly Twitter called Biden “the most anti-Israel president we have ever seen” who “has undermined Israel at every turn.”

As a result of the president’s comments, House Republicans have unveiled legislation that calls on Biden to use congressionally approved security funding for Israel “as Congress intended.”

The House will vote as early as May 15 on the legislation, according to Axios.

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