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By Lilith Foster-Collins
News Reporter
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The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield has criticized Israel's military actions in Gaza, accusing it of striking schools, humanitarian workers, and civilians.
Israel has repeatedly defended its operations, stating they are aimed at Hamas militants who use civilians as human shields.
The comments reflect growing U.S. criticism as the conflict nears its first anniversary.
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U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield was unusually outspoken against the Israeli military at a U.N. Security Council meeting, and said that many of the strikes affecting U.N. personnel and humanitarian workers "were preventable."
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Council members cited last week's Israeli strike on a former school turned civilian shelter run by the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, in which six UNRWA staffers were among at least 18 people killed, including women and children.
Israel claimed it targeted a Hamas command center within the site.
Israel's U.N. ambassador, Danny Danon, said Monday that Hamas militants were killed in the strike.
He named four, claiming to the council that they worked for UNRWA during the day and Hamas at night.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an independent investigation into the incident.
Thomas-Greenfield told council members that the U.S. will keep raising the need for Israel to facilitate humanitarian operations in the Palestinian territory.
She reiterated U.S. "outrage" at the death of Turkish American activist Aysenur Eygi, who was shot and killed during a protest in the West Bank last week.
Israeli Defense Forces said it likely killed Eygi by mistake, and the government has begun a criminal investigation.
"The IDF is a professional military and knows well how to ensure that incidents such as these do not happen," the U.S. envoy said.
She said the U.S. expected Israel to make "fundamental changes" to its military operations, including rules of engagement to avoid strikes on civilian facilities.
"We have also been unequivocal in communicating to Israel that there is no basis — absolutely none — for its forces to be opening fire on clearly marked U.N. vehicles as recently occurred on numerous occasions," Thomas-Greenfield said.
At the same time, she said Hamas is also hiding in — and in some cases, taking over or using — civilian sites, which poses "an ongoing threat."
She reiterated the need for a ceasefire agreement.
While the United States works with fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar to try to get both sides "to agree that enough is enough," she said, "this is ultimately a question of political will" and difficult compromises.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Egypt this week to discuss a proposal aimed at resolving the conflict.
The United States urged "all council members with influence over Hamas to join others in pressing its leaders to stop stalling, make these compromises, and accept the deal without delay," said Thomas-Greenfield.
She spoke after the top U.N. humanitarian official in Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, said the territory is "hell on Earth" for its more than 2 million people, calling the lack of effective protection for civilians "unconscionable."
Kaag told council members and reporters that the war has turned the territory "into the abyss."
He explained that humanitarian operations are being impeded by lawlessness, Israeli evacuation orders, fighting and difficult conditions for aid workers that include Israeli denials of access, delays, a lack of safety and security, and "poor logistical infrastructure," Kaag said.
Danon insisted that Israel's humanitarian efforts "are unparalleled" for a country forced to go to war and urged the Security Council and the U.N. "to speak to the facts."
He said that over 1 million tons of aid have been delivered via more than 50,000 trucks and nearly 1 million land crossings, and hardly a fraction have been stopped.
Kaag pointed to recent strikes on humanitarian convoys and schools and health facilities.
"It's not about trucks. It's about what people need," she said. "We're way, way off what people need, not only daily, but also what we would all consider a dignified human life."
Israel launched its assault on Gaza after the attack by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, which killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and resulted in the abduction of approximately 250 others.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press
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