US criticizes Israel for failing to prevent civilian casualties in Gaza

World Today

The Obama administration criticized Israel on Thursday for failing to do all it can to prevent civilian casualties in Gaza during cross-border attacks as Israel and Hamas consider a cease-fire agreement.

Noting the deaths a day earlier of four boys who were killed on a Gaza beach by an Israeli strike, the State Department said the high civilian death toll in Gaza has been “heartbreaking.” Three more children were killed in Gaza on Thursday. CCTV’s Jessica Stone reports from the White House.

U.S. criticizes Israel for failing to prevent civilian casualties in Gaza

The U.S. had been making every effort to deter an Israeli ground operation in Gaza. CCTV's White House correspondent Jessica Stone reports.

The U.S. has been pushing plans for a cease-fire that Egypt proposed, and Secretary of State John Kerry spoke Thursday to top diplomats in Cairo and the Qatari capital Doha to try to negotiate an end to hostilities that entered their eleventh day.

CCTV’s Elaine Reyes interviews Kate Gould — a lobbyist with a pacifist organization called the Friends Committee on National Legislation — and Matthew Brodsky, a Middle East analyst and former director of policy at the Jewish Policy Center in Washington, about Israel’s ground offensive on Gaza strip.

Kate Gould and Matthew Brodsky on Israel's ground offensive

CCTV's Elaine Reyes interviews Kate Gould, a lobbyist with a pacifist organization called the Friends Committee on National Legislation and Matthew Brodsky, a Middle East analyst and former director of policy at the Jewish Policy Center in Washington, to talk about Israel's ground offensive on Gaza strip.