Wednesday’s White House press briefing took a dark turn when an Arab reporter lashed out at Israel as “a terrorist state” inflicting “collective punishment” on Gazans and “killing...civilians” and “journalists” just moments after a reporter from the Saudi-funded Alarabiya asked whether the U.S. finds it “acceptable” and “positive” that “the ratio of killing Hamas fighters is equivalent to two civilians.”
On both counts, the National Security Council’s John Kirby wasn’t having it. In the case of the former, he began by kvetching about the plight of the Lebanese army, which isn’t particularly sterling given the country’s largely run by the Iranian-backed terrorist group, Hezbollah.
Kirby wouldn’t bite, so the reporter moved on and slammed Israel by claiming its inflicting “a collective punishment” on Gazans by carrying out military operations in the south, meaning, in his minds, “there’s no safe zones.”
The White House official calmly responded to this one, arguing the U.S. doesn’t “want to see a single more civilian killed” or “injured” or “civilian infrastructure like hospitals and...we’ll continue to make that case to our Israeli counterparts.”
The Arab reporter dramatically turned up the heat by lecturing Kirby that’s “nothing is changing on the ground” and “over 60 journalists died on the ground, even in south Lebanon”, so he demanded Kirby explain “what’s really happening.”
He then dropped the smear against Israel as a country of terrorists: “So, if we call Hamas a terrorist group, killing civilians as a non-state actor player, isn’t it also Israel acting like a terrorist state, killing humans — civilians, armed people, journalists every day.”
Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre interjected to try and have Kirby either move on or call it a day, but Kirby told her it was “okay” before launching into a thorough schooling of this pro-Hamas stooge.
“Hamas — Hamas deliberately slaughtered and murdered some 1,200 people on the seventh October and it seems like we’re all willing to forget that. Deliberately. And that was their intent. And to take hostages,” Kirby began.
Reiterating the U.S. has “been very honest with our Israeli counterparts” in demanding they “be very careful, cautious, deliberate,” Kirby also emphasized Israel has both “a right and responsibility to defend themselves against that very genocidal threat.”
Growing increasingly agitated with the question, Kirby stated plainly “it is not the Israel Defense Forces’s strategy to kill innocent people” and “it’s not like the Israelis are sitting around every morning and saying, ‘hey, how many more civilians can we kill today? Let’s go bomb a — let’s go bomb a school or a hospital or a residential building and just cause civilian casualties?’”
Kirby had even more to say, calling out Hamas setting up its operations amid innocent civilians and thus making it “very difficult” for anyone to hold them to account for their barbarism. With that said, Kirby asked the reporter if he thinks that’s the “right” thing to do, but the reporter ignored it. In turn, Kirby moved on (click “expand”):
KIRBY: They’re not doing that. They’re trying to go after Hamas and it’s very difficult when Hamas — oh, by the way, in addition to deliberately slaughtering people — is deliberately hiding themselves in residential buildings, in hospitals, in tunnels, making it — putting the innocent people of Gaza directly in the crossfire. Now, you tell me: Is that right?
ARAB MALE REPORTER: Now, is that right to kill — let’s — let’s — please — sorry —
KIRBY: I think we gotta move on.
JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah. We’re going to — nope, we’re going to move on.
ARAB MALE REPORTER: — they killed [INAUDIBLE NAME]. She was an important life. She was.
Before this charade, Alarabiya’s Nadia Bilbassy-Charters continued her penchant for asking questions tilting heavily toward Gazans.
Claiming an “Israeli army spokesman said that the ratio of killing Hamas fighters is equivalent to two civilians”, she did some math where, hypothetically, 35,000 dead Hamas terrorists would equal 70,000 civilians could be killed.
“Is this rate acceptable? He actually said it’s a positive rate. Is this acceptable to the U.S.,” she asked before tacking on a second question about whether he’d finally come around to accepting death tolls from the Hamas terrorists as fact.
Kirby kept it short and sweet: “I can’t verify the — the number. And the right number of civilian casualties is zero.”
She argued he didn’t answer the first question about the ratio, but Kirby said he did other than to say “the right number of civilian casualties is zero” and he couldn’t verify a specific number other than the general consensus that “many, many thousands have been killed.”
To see the relevant transcript from the December 6 briefing, click “expand.”
White House press briefing [via ABC News Live subfeed]
December 6, 2023
3:24 p.m. EasternNADIA BILBASSY-CHARTERS: The Israeli army spokesman said that the ratio of killing Hamas fighters is equivalent to two civilians. So, that means if Hamas has 35,000, that means 70,000 civilians could be killed. Is this rate acceptable? He actually said it’s a positive rate. Is this acceptable to the U.S.? And, second, John, if you allow me, the Israelis also saying that 15,000 Palestinians have been killed, which is more or less mirror what the Ministry of Health said. So, would you take now what the Palestinians said as a credible figure?
JOHN KIRBY: I can’t verify the — the number. And the right number of civilian casualties is zero.
BILBASSY-CHARTERS: Okay, well, the first question about the ratio.
KIRBY: That is — that’s the answer to your — both your questions. I can’t — I can’t — the right number of civilian casualties is zero. I’m not going to speak to the ratio that the IDF is putting out there. The right number of civilian casualties is zero and I can’t verify the 15,000 number. We’ve said many, many thousands have been killed.
ARAB MALE REPORTER: Thank you, Karine. Admiral, is the Lebanese army — there is support by the U.S. We receive millions of dollars over the years of military aid. Is it part of the war? Is it part of the conflict? Because the Israelis carried out an attack against the Lebanese army base in southwest Lebanon and killed some soldiers. Is it acceptable?
KIRBY: I — I didn’t follow the first part of your question.
ARAB MALE REPORTER: An Israeli airstrike — carried an attack against the Lebanese army in the south. Is it — is it acceptable?
KIRBY: I’ll let — as I’ve said many times before — I’ll let the Israeli Defense Forces speak to their airstrikes, to their military operations.
ARAB MALE REPORTER: Is the Lebanese army —
KIRBY: I will let them —
ARAB MALE REPORTER: — are they part of the conflict?
KIRBY: — I will let them speak to their operations. I’m not going to armchair quarterback their operations here from this podium. We’re going to make sure that they have the security assistance that they need to defend themselves.
ARAB MALE REPORTER: So, do you then express that there’s no safe zones in the south and now, Israel is encouraging to move more to the south, so is it a collective punishment and are we going to see more civilians in the south? Are there no safe zones?
KIRBY: We don’t want to see — we don’t want to see a single more civilian killed. We don’t want to see a single more civilian injured. We don’t want to see damage to civilian infrastructure like hospitals and we have made that case and we’ll continue to make that case to our Israeli counterparts.
ARAB MALE REPORTER: But don’t you see nothing is changing on the ground? A CNN producer lost nine members of his family today. Killing journalists — over 60 journalists died on the ground, even in south Lebanon. They were not a target. They were clearly journalists. What — what’s really happening? So, if we call Hamas a terrorist group, killing civilians as a non-state actor player, isn’t it also Israel acting like a terrorist state, killing humans — civilians, armed people, journalists every day?
KIRBY: So, again, we don’t want to see civilian casualties. [KJP TRIES TO HAVE HIM MOVE ON] Sorry, just one more point. It’s okay. I don’t know if it’s going to answer your question. Hamas — Hamas deliberately slaughtered and murdered some 1,200 people on the seventh October and it seems like we’re all willing to forget that. Deliberately. And that was their intent. And to take hostages. They actually — that was the purpose of the whole thing on the seventh. Now, we’ve been very honest with our Israeli counterparts. We want them to be very careful, cautious, deliberate. We don’t want to see anymore civilians harmed by this, but they have a right and responsibility to defend themselves against that very genocidal threat and it is not the Israel Defense Forces’s strategy to kill innocent people. It’s happening. I admit that. Each one’s a tragedy, but it’s not like the Israelis are sitting around every morning and saying, “hey, how many more civilians can we kill today? Let’s go bomb a — let’s go bomb a school or a hospital or a residential building and just cause civilian casualties?” They’re not doing that. They’re trying to go after Hamas and it’s very difficult when Hamas — oh, by the way, in addition to deliberately slaughtering people — is deliberately hiding themselves in residential buildings, in hospitals, in tunnels, making it — putting the innocent people of Gaza directly in the crossfire. Now, you tell me: Is that right?
ARAB MALE REPORTER: Now, is that right to kill — let’s — let’s — please — sorry —
KIRBY: I think we gotta move on.
JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah. We’re going to — nope, we’re going to move on.
ARAB MALE REPORTER: — they killed [INAUDIBLE NAME]. She was an important life. She was.
