When asked whether the events of the past weekend qualified as the kind of “death and destruction” that U.S. officials had warned could result in the withholding of more aid to Israel, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the White House, “The Israelis have said this is a tragic mistake.”
According to Kirby, the United States lacks “a measuring stick here or a quota.”
Additionally, we have stated that we do not wish to see a significant ground operation in Rafah that would make it extremely difficult for the Israelis to pursue Hamas without inflicting significant damage and possibly a significant number of casualties. He noted that most of Israel’s activities took place in a corridor outside of Rafah. “We have not seen that yet,” he said.
Kirby responded, “I think that’s what I’ve been saying here,” when asked if he was implying that the recent ground operations in Rafah would not lead to a U.S. withdrawal of additional military aid.
President Joe Biden’s vow to withhold arms from Israel in the event that the American ally launched a significant invasion of Rafah that endangered the lives of the displaced people there has been put to the test by the recent killings there.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris stated, “The word tragic doesn’t even begin to describe” the Israeli bombing that occurred on Sunday and set fire to a tent camp in the Gaza city of Rafah, killing forty-five Palestinians. Harris was speaking at a ceremonial ceremony in Washington.
Kirby stated, “The Israelis have claimed to have used precision-guided munitions and 37-pound bombs.” “If it is what they actually used, it shows that they made an attempt to be discrete, focused, and accurate. Now, it’s clear that this had devastating outcomes, and that calls for further investigation.
When asked if Biden may find himself in a difficult situation as a result of Israel’s strikes, Kirby told reporters on Tuesday that there was actually a chance that Israel’s tactics might further isolate it from the rest of the world.It’s obvious that this is concerning as it is not in Israel’s best interests, Kirby said. Furthermore, it is not in our best interests for Israel to grow more and more isolated on the international scene.
Human rights and Arab American organizations had earlier on Tuesday slammed the U.S. administration’s response.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations’ executive director, Nihad Awad, stated, “Unfortunately, this is now as much an American genocide as it is an Israeli genocide because of President Biden’s insistence on sending more bombs to enable Netanyahu’s war crimes in Rafah.”
Officials from the United States and Israel have objected to the term “genocide” being used to characterize what is happening in Gaza.
Read more:Hamas Reports Seven Hostage Deaths in Gaza
The State Department announced on Tuesday that Washington conveyed to Israel its profound concern following the allegations of Sunday’s Rafah incident and sought an inquiry, which Israel has committed to conduct.
Global leaders have expressed horror at the fire in a designated “humanitarian zone” of Rafah where families uprooted by fighting elsewhere had sought shelter.
More than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, Gaza’s health ministry says. Israel launched its air and ground war after Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.