US struggles to get answers on 'horrifying' Israeli strike in northern Gaza

Despite repeatedly urging the Israeli government to provide more information about a devastating strike on a town in northern Gaza that killed dozens of civilians this week, Biden administration officials say they have not yet received an explanation for the attack's staggering toll on civilian lives.

"We are pressing them [Israel] for an answer," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Wednesday. "They are not doing enough to get us the answers that we have requested."

On Tuesday, Miller described the strike as "a horrifying incident with a horrifying result."

According to the Palestinian Civil Defense, an organization providing emergency services in Gaza, at least 110 people were killed in Tuesday's strike on the city of Beit Lahia. The Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said roughly two dozen children were among the dead.

Publicly, the Israeli government has said very little about the incident beyond acknowledging that it's "aware of reports that civilians were harmed" and is investigating the matter. Meanwhile, its military has continued to carry out airstrikes on the city, which was placed under an evacuation order earlier this month, as it seeks to combat what it says is a resurgence of Hamas fighters in the northern Gaza Strip.

Tor Wennesland, the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, quickly condemned the attack on Tuesday, asserting in a statement that it was "another appalling incident" in a "deadly series of recent mass casualty incidents."

Miller said the United States would continue to push Israel for information and that the State Department was conducting its own review of the strike -- but did not preview any consequences Israel could face if that inquiry finds that Israel violated international law.

"I can tell you that we are not just pressing them for answers, but also conducting our own reviews based on information that we are gathering, independent of the government of Israel," Miller said. "And we will make those determinations when we've completed those reviews, but I can't put a timetable on it."

Israel's apparent stonewalling comes as the U.S. is demanding the country take steps to drastically improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Earlier this month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin sent a letter to Israel outlining specific demands, warning that failure to comply within 30 days could impact the flow of U.S. military aid.

The State Department says it has observed some progress, but a deadline related to one of the letter's requirements is at risk of going unmet. Blinken and Austin wrote that it was "vitally important that our governments establish a new channel through which we can raise and discuss civilian harm incidents" and said the first virtual meeting of said channel should take place before the end of October. But officials say that meeting has not yet been scheduled.

The fallout from the Beit Lahia strike is also playing out as the Biden administration tries to tamp down dissent within the Democratic Party over its support of Israel's war in Gaza. While foreign affairs rarely register as a top issue for voters, Democrats have long feared that a small number of voters repelled by the administration's handling of Gaza could tip the scale in critical swing states such as Michigan, which is home to one of the largest Arab American populations in the U.S.

Vice President Kamala Harris' rally at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday evening was interrupted by pro-Palestinian groups chanting their opposition and staging small protests. Similar demonstrations have occurred during numerous Harris-Walz events throughout the campaign.  

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., attempted to make the case for Harris in a video posted online on Tuesday, calling himself a critic of her position "on the terrible war in Gaza" but arguing that "even on this issue, Donald Trump and his right-wing friends are worse."

"I promise you, after Kamala wins, we will together do everything that we can to change U.S. policy toward [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu," he said.

However, Harris has done little to distance herself from President Joe Biden on this issue and others. During an interview with ABC's "The View" earlier this month, Harris was asked what she would have done differently from Biden and responded by saying "there is not a thing that comes to mind."

Former President Donald Trump's campaign, meanwhile, has attempted to capitalize on Democrats' discontent, securing the endorsement of at least two Democratic mayors who represent Muslim-majority cities and several other prominent Arab American leaders.

However, there's no evidence to suggest Trump would do more to address Palestinian suffering if he were to win a second term in the White House. Trump has spoken to Netanyahu multiple times in recent weeks, and reportedly expressed his support for the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, telling Netanyahu "do what you have to do."

According to a policy analysis from the Middle East Institute, the presidential candidate who ultimately wins the election is unlikely to play an outsized role in shaping long-term U.S. policy on the Middle East because the federal government appears poised to remain "sharply split along partisan lines," and it's likely that Republicans and Democrats will continue to use foreign policy as an "ideological wedge."

The assessment, however, argues that this need not -- and should not -- be the case.

"One can certainly point to recent instances in Congress and the Biden and Trump administrations of when Democratic and Republican lawmakers and officials crossed the aisle and worked together on key aspects of U.S. foreign policy on China and Russia," it said. "The two parties' leaders should draw lessons from those successful examples of bipartisanship and take similar steps to build coalitions across the political spectrum that seek to advance a more effective, longer-term U.S. approach toward the Middle East."