Mark Kelly won’t back conditions on aid to Israel amid Lebanon escalation

Arizona Senator Mark Kelly says he won’t vote to condition aid to Israel as the death toll in neighboring Lebanon continues to grow from escalating Israeli strikes.

Kelly, who said earlier this year that he would support conditions on military aid if steps to minimize civilian casualties were not taken, told NBC’s Kristen Welker on Sunday that he hadn’t seen the Israeli government cross that line yet.

He added that he continues to have conversations with Israeli officials. Kelly, who sits on the Armed Services committee, would be a key vote on the passage of future aid packages.

“We continue to talk to our allies, Israel, about how they are conducting this operation,” he said. “Hey, civilian loss of life is tragic wherever it happens. The Palestinian people who live in Gaza; they’re not Hamas. There are Hamas terrorists there, that Israel is focused on eliminating...but it’s a continuous discussion.”

He was asked to clarify by Welker, who said it sounded as if he was “not at that point yet” where supporting conditions on military aid packages would get his vote. Kelly, a Democrat, affirmed that was an accurate read on his views.

«I've seen some positive responses from them when I have specifically asked them to do things differently,” he told Welker, stating that he would continue with dialogue until he feld that option had failed.

WATCH: Sen. Mark Kelly told <a rel=»nofollow" target="_blank" href=«https://twitter.com/hashtag/MTP?src=hash&ref_src=» https:>#MTP

in May that he'd condition aid to Israel if they don't «do a better job.»

He now tells <a rel=«nofollow» target="_blank" href=«https://twitter.com/kwelkernbc?ref_src=» https:>@kwelkernbc he's not at that point yet.

«I've seen some positive responses from them when