Sen. Mark Kelly: Conditions on aid to Israel would be 'appropriate' if civilian death toll in Gaza doesn't drop

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., on Friday said it would be "appropriate" to condition future aid to Israel if Israeli leadership doesn't "do better" at preventing civilian deaths in Gaza.

"We never want to see innocent women, children, old people getting killed. That has happened at a pretty high rate here," Kelly said on NBC News' "Meet the Press" in a taped interview that aired Sunday.

"I’ve talked to the ambassador — the Israeli ambassador, Michael Herzog — about this specifically: that if we don’t see some changes, I think it is appropriate to put conditions on some of this aid," Kelly added, speaking just weeks after both chambers of Congress passed a foreign aid package that included $26 billion in assistance to Israel.

"They're getting more aid," Kelly said, but he added that the Israeli military also needs more targeted munitions, like "JDAM kits for Mark 80-series weapons, the kind of weapon that I used to drop in combat over Iraq."

He added, "If we see the same level of civilian casualties [after that], that is a big concern of mine."

Kelly tied his concerns about civilian casualties to rising concerns from aid groups around the world that humanitarian conditions in Gaza are growing dire.

In a separate interview for "Meet the Press," World Food Program Executive Director Cindy McCain told moderator Kristen Welker, "There is famine — full-blown famine — in the north [of Gaza], and it’s moving its way south."

Kelly, who said he speaks to McCain "a lot about this," said he's going to "continue to address it and push the Israelis to do better. If they do better, this also allows the option of more food aid getting in."

"If the Israelis can do better on the battlefield, reduce the civilian casualties, make fewer mistakes