White House: Israel Says Use Precision Guided Bombs, If True, There Will Be Careful Efforts

John Kirby. (Wikimedia Commons/The White House)

JAKARTA - The White House said there were efforts to be careful and precise by Israel when launching airstrikes on Rafah if the claim to use a precision-guided bomb was true.

At least 45 people were killed and more than 200 others injured following an Israeli attack on the Rafah over a refugee camp said it was in a safe zone on Sunday, quoted by CNN May 29.

Most of the victims were women and children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health and Palestinian medics.

Gaza officials and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said the target area for the attack was a refugee camp recently established near the warehouse of the United Nations Aid and Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in northwester Rafah.

Israel said the attack was precise and based on accurate intelligence, with two senior Hamas commanders reported killed in the attack.

Hamas issued a martyrdom statement of two fighters in Sunday's attack, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, an indication Israel was trying to pursue Hamas in a "targeted and targeted way."

"Israel said it used 37 pounds of bombs, precision guided ammunition," Kirby said.

"If that's true what they are using, of course, this indicates an attempt to be careful and on target and accurate. Now, obviously this is tragic and obviously it needs to be investigated," he said. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that something was strategically wrong with the attack, resulting in civilian casualties, saying the investigation of the incident had been carried out.

Israeli military prosecutor Major General Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi called the airstrike "very serious", saying investigations were underway.

"IDF regrets any loss to non-combats during the war," Major General Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi said at a conference on Monday.

Israel continued to carry out attacks on Rafah despite a UN high court decision on Friday ordering them to stop its attacks, arguing the court's decision gave them (militan, red) room to carry out military action there.

"The details of this incident are still under investigation, which we are committed to doing completely," said Major General Yerushalmi, quoted by The Times of Israel.

When asked if President Biden had seen some pictures from Rafah over the weekend, Kirby said he could not speak about it but the president was "continued to be notified over the weekend."

Asked if Israeli attacks could put President Biden's Administration in a difficult position, Kirby told reporters on Tuesday there was a real danger Israel could be increasingly isolated from the international community by the way they carry out operations.

"So this is clearly concerning, because this is not Israel's best interest," Kirby said.

"And it is not in our best interest if Israel is increasingly isolated on the world stage," he said.

The US Government's response on Tuesday was criticized by Arab-American human rights groups.

"Sadly, because of President Biden's insistence on sending more bombs to allow Netanyahu to commit war crimes in Rafah, this is now an American genocide and Israeli genocide," said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council of American-Islamic Relations.