The White House said it was concerned about reports of civilian casualties after Israel struck a UNRWA school Wednesday in Central Gaza.
"We're in touch with our Israeli counterparts to get more information on what happened," Press Secretary Karrine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday. "IDF said they were targeting Hamas officials, including those who were directly involved with the horrific attacks that we saw on October 7."
The Biden administration has been clear that Israel has a right and responsibility to defend itself, but "we also have been clear that Israel must do this in a way that there is precaution" and in a way "to protect more civilian lives."
"So this is especially the case in declared humanitarian zones in Gaza, and that is something that we want to see," she said.
Jean-Pierre said, "We're certainly having conversations about that."
"We mourn. We mourn. And you hear us say this all the time every Palestinian civilian lost in this conflict, including children, and for far too many, for too many lives continue or have been lost and continue to be killed and wounded," Jean-Pierre said.
Jean-Pierre said she could not answer if Hamas leadership was killed in Wednesday's strike.
Addressing Aysenur Eygi
Jean-Pierre was also asked how she responds to Turkish anger, both from the government and the citizens, to President Biden calling Aysenur Eygi's shooting an accident.
"So let me just say that what Aysenur's loved ones are going through right now is unimaginable, and I can't imagine the pain that they're going through with losing a child, a loved one, and their loss has certainly been on the president's mind," Jean-Pierre said.
Jean-Pierre said Biden released a statement on Eygi's death and said there must be full accountability.
Biden has not, however, spoken with Eygi's family.
"Her killing was indeed an outrage. Just to reiterate...Israel must do more," Jean-Pierre said. "They must do more to make sure that incidents like these never happen again. The pain of losing a child is something that I can certainly that we can't even imagine helping Turkey.
Jean-Pierre said US officials have been in touch with Eygi's family members, and the White House is "working on additional calls."