Sullivan blames ‘fog of war’ over Israel’s targeting of basic infrastructure in Gaza

National Security advisor Jake Sullivan on Sunday dodged a question about whether Israel’s targeting of basic infrastructure such as food, water and electricity in Gaza could be defined as a war crime.

Pressed on CBS News “Face The Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan if Israel’s targeting of such infrastructure is a war crime, Sullivan responded, “Look, I’m not going to react to or comment on every report that we see. There’s a lot of fog of war.”

Brennan asked the question after Sullivan said Israeli forces are focused on the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza and that the U.S. and Israel “embrace[s] the rule of law and the laws of war.”

“What we will say is the protection of civilians and the protection of those people who are trying to get to safety, as well as their ability to access food, water, medicine, shelter, these things should be respected and should very much be a central focus of everyone involved in this, including ourselves, the Israelis, the United Nations, and the regional countries,” Sullivan said before Brenna’s war crime question.

Israel ramped up its major counteroffensive against Hamas following the group’s surprise attack on Oct. 7 that initially claimed hundreds of lives, including mostly civilians. In the days that followed, Israel launched hundreds of air strikes into Gaza and warned over 1 million people to evacuate in anticipation of a ground attack.

Asked if the U.S. has any assurances from Israel that Palestinians can eventually return to their homes, Sullivan said, “We are not at the point of discussing the operational details of people, the larger civilian population leaving Gaza. We’re focused right now on getting them to safe areas, not in the north of Gaza, but down in the south of Gaza.”

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have already fled their home after dozens of neighborhoods were destroyed by the bombardment of airstrikes.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered a “complete siege” on the Gaza Strip early last week, halting the supply of food, electricity and water to the territory that was already running low on several resources. The sole power plant in Gaza officially ran out of fuel and was shut down last Wednesday.

The World Health Organization has spoken out against the siege and evacuations, warning they will send the territory into a further humanitarian crisis.

In Gaza, an estimated 2,329 Palestinians have died and 9,042 were injured, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Around 1,300 Israelis have died in the conflict, the majority of them civilian killed in Hamas’s deadly surprise attack last weekend, according to The Associated Press (AP).