U.S. says it 'made clear' to Israel that children deaths in Gaza are 'unacceptable'

The U.S. has "made clear" to Israel that the deaths of children in the besieged Gaza Strip are "unacceptable," the State Department said Tuesday.

The comments come in the wake of a statement from UN experts in which they confirmed that 15 children died of starvation at northern Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital, warning of fears that the toll could be higher in other medical facilities.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said conditions in Gaza are "clearly horrific."

"The deaths of any children are unacceptable. And we have made that clear to the government of Israel," Miller told reporters in response to a question from Anadolu.

"When it comes to responsibility, look, Hamas obviously is responsible for starting this war, and hiding behind human shields, and using civilians as a tool in this conflict. But Israel needs to do more to ensure that food gets in to address the very real, dire humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people," he added.

Israel launched its sweeping military offensive on the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack in which Israeli authorities said roughly 1,200 people were killed.

More than 30,600 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, and over 72,000 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities. Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

But the UN experts who issued their statement earlier Tuesday said Israel is flouting its responsibilities under the ICJ order.

"Israel systematically denies and restricts the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza by intercepting deliveries at checkpoints, bombing humanitarian convoys and shooting at civilians seeking humanitarian assistance," they said.

"Israel is not respecting its international legal obligations, is not complying with the provisional measures of the International Court of Justice, and is committing atrocity crimes," the experts added.