National Security Council spokesman John Kirby blasted a reporter for asking a question critical of President Joe Biden’s response to the war in Gaza.
Referencing remarks where Biden said he had “no confidence” in the Palestinian civilian casualty figures given by the Palestinian Health Ministry that is overseen by Hamas, a reporter asked whether the president would apologize for the remarks and whether Kirby thinks they are “insensitive” or “harsh.”
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“What’s harsh — what’s harsh is the way Hamas is using people as human shields,” Kirby responded.
“What’s harsh is taking a couple of hundred hostages and leaving families anxious, waiting, and worrying to figure out where their loved ones are. What’s harsh is dropping in on a music festival and slaughtering a bunch of young people just trying to enjoy an afternoon.”
“I could go on and on. That’s what’s harsh. That is what’s harsh, and being honest about the fact that there have been civilian casualties and that there likely will be more is being honest because that’s what war is. It’s brutal, it’s ugly, it’s messy. I’ve said that before,” he continued.
“The president also said that yesterday. That doesn’t mean we have to like it, and it doesn’t mean that we’re dismissing any one of those casualties — each and every one is a tragedy in its own right.”
Kirby heaped further criticism on Hamas, blaming them for civilian casualties due to demanding that citizens don’t evacuate Gaza when asked by the Israel Defense Forces to do so.
“It would be helpful if Hamas would let [Gazans] leave… We know that there are thousands waiting to leave Gaza writ large, and Hamas is preventing them from doing it. That is what is harsh.”
“What’s harsh — what’s harsh is the way Hamas is using people as human shields. What’s harsh is taking a couple of hundred hostages and leaving families and anxious, waiting and worrying to figure out where their loved ones are.”
pic.twitter.com/XRJq9iHZzb— Herbie Ziskend (@HerbieZiskend46) October 26, 2023
Kirby was echoing Biden’s remarks made at a Wednesday press conference when he dismissed high civilian casualty figures from the Hamas-overseen Palestinian Health Ministry.
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“What they say to me is I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed,” Biden responded when presented with the figures. “I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war.”
“I think we should be incredibly careful. … Israel should be incredibly careful to be sure that they’re focusing on going after the folks that are propagating this war against Israel. And it’s against their interest when that doesn’t happen. But I have no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using,” he added.
