“I can’t talk about a change in policy” because of “Sunday’s blow,” clarified the spokesman for the National Security Council of the American presidency, John Kirby.
The US government “doesn’t turn a blind eye” to the civilian casualties in Rafah, but continues to support Israel, a White House spokesman said Tuesday, reacting to Sunday night’s Israeli bombardment that sparked an international outcry. .
Palestinians denounced ‘massacre’, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a ‘tragic accident’ after a shelling at a refugee camp in Rafah killed 45 people and injured 249 others, according to the latest health ministry figures in the Gaza Strip.
“We are not turning a blind eye,” assured John Kirby, the spokesman for the National Security Council of the US presidency, during a briefing to accredited editors, when asked “how many charred corpses” would be needed for President Joe Biden to change his policy towards Israel.
“I can’t talk about a change in policy” because of “Sunday’s blow,” Mr. Kirby clarified, referring to steadfast American support for Washington’s key ally in the Middle East.
Joe Biden has publicly warned Israel against launching a large-scale ground attack on Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, a Palestinian enclave that has suffered massive destruction after nearly eight months of war with Hamas.
Earlier yesterday, the US Department of Defense ruled that the Israeli operation in Rafah still remains “limited” in scope — despite Sunday’s shelling.
“We have always appreciated that what is being done in Rafah, what the Israeli military is doing, is limited in scope,” Sabrina Sigg, the Pentagon’s deputy spokeswoman, said during a regular briefing of accredited editors.
The US has historically been the main military and diplomatic supporter at the international level and criticized the announcement by International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan that he had requested the issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli politicians, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, for war crimes.
However, “we don’t think that imposing sanctions on the ICC would be the right approach”, John Kirby said yesterday, after Republican senators urged that measures be taken against the institution, as was done when Donald Trump was president at the expense of his then prosecutor .
Source :Skai
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