US has ‘complicity' in Gaza killings

NEW YORK, July 03 (Reuters/AFP): A dozen former US government officials who quit over US support for Israel's war in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday accused President Joe Biden's administration of "undeniable complicity" in the killing of Palestinians in the enclave.
In a joint statement, the 12 former government officials said the administration was violating US laws through its support for Israel and finding loopholes to continue shipping weapons to its ally.
Both the White House and the State Department had no immediate comment on the statement.
There has been mounting international criticism of Israel's conduct in Gaza and of US military and diplomatic support for its ally in a war that has so far killed nearly 38,000 people and created a humanitarian crisis.
The resignations of the 12 US officials reflects some dissent within the government over its support for Israel. Washington has pushed for the protection of civilians in Gaza and has called on Israel to improve aid access.
Among the people who signed the joint statement were former members of the State Department, Education Department, Interior Department, White House and the military.
Heavy fighting
rocks Gaza
Israeli forces bombed and battled Hamas in Gaza City on Wednesday as tens of thousands of Palestinians scrambled for a safe haven after the army issued an evacuation order for a vast swathe in the territory's south.
Apache helicopters and Israeli quadcopter drones flew above Gaza City's Shujaiya district as heavy gunfire echoed through the streets, said AFP reporters.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a US media report saying his generals were urging a Gaza truce even with Hamas undefeated, stressing on Tuesday that "this will not happen".
Military chief Herzi Halevi meanwhile said Israel is engaged in "a long campaign" to destroy Hamas over the October 7 attack and to bring home the hostages held by Palestinian militants.
The United Nations warned that the almost nine-months-old war had "unleashed a maelstrom of human misery" and that the latest evacuation order had plunged yet more Palestinians into "an abyss of suffering".
Ten days after Netanyahu said the war's "intense phase" was winding down, the Israeli military again rained down air strikes and artillery fire on militants in the Shujaiya district.