President Joe Biden on Monday called on Israel to scale back its attacks on civilian targets, saying its military should take what he called “less intrusive action” at Gaza’s main medical center, the Al-Shifa Hospital. Biden added, “The hospital must be protected.” His remarks came after Doctors Without Borders reported Israeli troops fired on medical teams and an ambulance attempting to retrieve injured people from Al-Shifa’s gates. At least one Israeli sniper fired into the hospital, hitting patients. Others reported they’d been struck by gunfire from low-flying Israeli drones. Israel claims Hamas has a command center below the hospital, but the claim has been denied by hospital officials.
Human Rights Watch has called for Israel’s attacks on Gaza’s hospitals to be investigated as war crimes. In February, Biden signed an executive order barring the U.S. from supplying weapons to countries that would likely use them to target civilians. But just last week, the Biden administration approved a $320 million deal to supply Israel with precision-guided bombs, and Biden is asking Congress for a further $14 billion on top of $3.8 billion in annual U.S. military aid to Israel.