The US is asking Israel to take greater care to protect civilians and limit damage to infrastructure in any offensive in southern Gaza, senior US officials said, in what amounts to a more forthright approach to protecting Palestinians, Reuters reports.

The message has been delivered from President Joe Biden on down, the officials told reporters on a conference call.

“We have reinforced this in very clear language with the government of Israel — very important that the conduct of the Israeli campaign when it moves to the south must be done in a way that is to a maximum extent not designed to produce significant further displacement of persons,” one official said.

“You cannot have the sort of scale of displacement that took place in the north, replicated in the south. It will be beyond disruptive, it will be beyond the capacity of any humanitarian support network,” the official said, adding “It can’t happen.”

The US official said the campaign needed to avoid attacks on power and water infrastructure and humanitarian sites and hospitals in south and central Gaza. He said the Israelis had been receptive amid concerns that southern Gaza could be a more complicated battlefield.