White House on Gaza evacuation order: ‘Obviously, we don’t want to see any civilians hurt’

The White House stressed Friday that it does not want to see civilians hurt as Israel called for 1 million people in Gaza to evacuate to the south, prompting increased fears of a serious humanitarian catastrophe.

The Israeli order suggests a ground assault on Gaza could be on the way following the Hamas attacks on Israel that killed more than 1,000 people, many of them civilians. Israel already has launched a furious air assault on Gaza.

Hamas, recognized as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government, is the controlling force in Gaza.

“We think that there should be no civilian causalities, of course,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said in an interview with CNN.

He said that the White House has argued that there should be safe passage out of Gaza for civilians and that people who want to leave will require time and transportation.

Israel called for civilians in Gaza City to go to homes southward for their safety, though many of those civilians lack homes in the south to go to or, in some cases, transportation.

“Obviously, the more time that people have the better,” Kirby said. “Obviously, we don’t want to see any civilians hurt.

“We do support safe passage out of Gaza, and that includes the ability for people to move safely inside Gaza,” he added, saying he wants to see “due concern” for the civilians inside Gaza

The United Nations warned Friday that trying to move that many people with a 24-hour deadline would be disastrous. 

Kirby said the White House is going to be careful to not get too involved into “armchair quarterbacking” about the situation, but noted that it’s a tough one.

“We understand what they’re trying to do, they’re trying to move civilians out of harm’s way and giving them fair warning. Now, it’s a tall order, it’s a million people and it’s a very urban, dense environment. It’s already a combat zone,” he said.

Earlier Friday, Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International, called for President Biden to engage with the Israelis about protecting civilians. In the wake of the Israeli order, panic reportedly spread in Gaza amongst the civilians and aid workers.