US not drawing red lines for Israel, White House says

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U.S. White House spokesman John Kirby holds press briefing at the White House in Washington
U.S. White House spokesman John Kirby speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., October 26, 2023. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
WASHINGTON, Oct 27 (Reuters) - The United States is not trying to dictate limits for Israel, the White House said on Friday, as the Israelis expanded their military operation in Gaza against Hamas militants.
The fresh military onslaught by Israel comes as the United States scrambles to arrange a humanitarian pause for deliveries of fuel and relief aid to Gaza civilians. How the expanded ground operation will impact efforts toward a pause was unclear.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby, at a news briefing, would not comment on the Israeli expanded ground operation. But he said Washington supported Israel's right to defend itself after Hamas militants killed 1,400 people in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
"We're not drawing red lines for Israel," he said.
He said the United States continued to discuss with Israel about the aims of its operation, the need to protect civilians in Gaza, the effort to gain the safe return of Israeli hostages and the need to consider what comes after ground operations in Gaza.
"Since the very beginning, we have had and will continue to have conversations with them about the manner in which they're doing this. And we have not been shy about expressing our concerns over civilian casualties, collateral damage, and the approach that they might choose to take. That's what friends can do, and we're friends," he said.

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Reporting by Steve Holland an Jeff Mason; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chris Reese and Cynthia Osterman

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Jeff Mason is a White House Correspondent for Reuters. He has covered the presidencies of Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden and the presidential campaigns of Biden, Trump, Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain. He served as president of the White House Correspondents’ Association in 2016-2017, leading the press corps in advocating for press freedom in the early days of the Trump administration. His and the WHCA's work was recognized with Deutsche Welle's "Freedom of Speech Award." Jeff has asked pointed questions of domestic and foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong Un. He is a winner of the WHCA's “Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure" award and co-winner of the Association for Business Journalists' "Breaking News" award. Jeff began his career in Frankfurt, Germany as a business reporter before being posted to Brussels, Belgium, where he covered the European Union. Jeff appears regularly on television and radio and teaches political journalism at Georgetown University. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and a former Fulbright scholar.

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