U.S. Denies Israeli Army Involvement in Deliberate War Crimes in Gaza

Shafaq News/ The White House stated that the United States does not see any indication of deliberate war crimes committed by members of the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, emphasizing that the operations by the Houthi group did not impact the ceasefire decision in Gaza.

In a press briefing, John Kirby, the NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications, confirmed that the U.S. administration’s policy supports a two-state solution but stressed Israel’s right to defend itself.

“It’s about supporting the Israeli people’s right to exist, right to be a nation. I mean, again, you don’t have to look any further than the 2017 manifesto of Hamas to see what their ultimate plans are. They want to wipe the country off the face of the — off the map.”

“So, we’re defending Israel’s right to defend itself. The Israeli people get to decide who represents them, who their elected officials are. We don’t decide that. And we will always work with whoever the Israeli people decide to put in — into power and government. We’ll always work with them, regardless of the differences, maybe, on political issues.”

Concerning Mexico and Chile’s request for the International Criminal Court to investigate potential crimes against civilians in Gaza and the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel, Kirby said, “We’re aware of those — of that report and the potential referral to the ICC. I don’t have a comment for you on it at this time. We’re still gathering more information about what this — what this would entail.”

“But I want to say again that we don’t have any indications that there’s deliberate — deliberate efforts to commit war crimes by the Israeli Defense.”

On the Houthis attacks in the Red Sea, the NSC Coordinator said this targeting needs to stop.

“They need to stop these attacks. We’ve got capabilities available to us to use it if we have to. “

Kirby denied if the attacks from the Houthis is playing a factor in the calculus of pushing Israel for a ceasefire.