Hamas Beheads Hostage, Press Claims ISRAEL Not Following ‘Laws of War’

Nicholas Fondacaro
October 30th, 2023 6:44 PM

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On Monday, multiple news outlets reported that Shani Louk (a German-Israeli civilian woman who was kidnapped by Hamas from the music festival on October 7) was “beheaded” and “dragged through the streets.” But during the White House press briefing with NSC spokesman Admiral John Kirby later that day, most of the liberal questioners were more concerned about whether or not Israel was the side violating the “rules of war.”

ABC chief White House correspondent and just general ghoul, Mary Bruce, was the first to suggest that the unfolding ground operations of the Israeli Defense Forces in Gaza were gearing up to massacre civilians. “As the IDF entering this sort of next phase of this conflict, you know, the President again urged Prime Minister Netanyahu to act in a manner consistent with international humanitarian law. Does the President feel or does he feel that Israel is abiding by the rules of war?” she wanted to know.

Kirby had to remind Bruce that Israel was fighting terrorists that deliberately targeted Israeli civilians and butchered them. But still, Bruce insisted that it was Israel who needed to be lectured by President Biden about the value of life. Fortunately, Kirby set her straight:

BRUCE: But is the President concerned that Israel is going to break the rules of war and if not, why does the President feel the need to repeatedly bring this up in it seems every conversation that he has with him?

KIRBY: Because it's something that even the Prime Minister brings up in the conversation. They both recognize that as democracies, it's important to abide by the law of war and to protect innocent life and to try to minimize civilian casualties. It's not a lecturing. It's a reminder from two leaders of two vibrant democracies that that's what separates us from folks like Hamas.

 

 

That exchange was followed by Nadia Bilbassy-Charters of Saudi Arabia-owned Al Arabiya parroting an evidence-free claim that Israel had killed more kids in three weeks than were killed in all the world’s conflicts combined since 2019:

The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. said that we should not be numb to the suffering of Palestinians, whether it’s the journalists, the ordinary people, or aid workers. The number now is 53. Every time we sit here, the number goes up. And also, Save the Children Fund said that the number of children that was killed in Gaza is more than the whole world conflict since 2019.

“Well, back to Mary's question. There's not a single conversation we haven't had with our Israeli counterparts to better understand what they're doing to minimize civilian casualties,” Kirby burst her bubble.

A few minutes later, an unidentified foreign reporter cited the U.N. General Assembly’s clownish condemnation of Israel (while they failed to condemn Hamas) and pressed Kirby for the U.S. to back a “humanitarian cease-fire.”

After Kirby reiterated that the U.S. does “not believe that a cease-fire is the right answer right now” because it “benefits Hamas.” The reporter demanded to know if he was scared that support for Israel’s right to exist would make the U.S. a pariah state. “Are you not afraid of being isolated in this? I mean, of being at odds with the international community?” she asked.

The final pro-Hamas question came from the Wall Street Journal’s Sabrina Siddiqui, who whined about Israel cutting internet and phone communications in Gaza in order to hamstring the terror group’s ability to organize an effective resistance to their ground operations. She suggested, without evidence, that it was a violation of the “laws of war”:

For 34 hours, the majority of Palestinians in Gaza had no way of reaching each other or the outside world. Emergency phone lines were down. The New York Times says paramedics were left driving towards the sound of explosions and people were left to die in the street. What is your response to that? Is that upholding the laws of war?

From the more right-of-center side of the aisle, Real Clear News’s Phillip Wegmann queried Kirby on the administration’s take on Turkey, a U.S. ally, calling Hamas a "liberation group" and not terrorists while they also smeared Israel as war criminals.

And Newsmax’s James Rosen grilled Kirby for a solid number of Americans being held hostage by Hamas, but Kirby refused.

 

 

The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:

FNC’s The Story With Martha MacCallum, White House Press Briefing
October 30, 2023
3:44:22 p.m. Eastern

(…)

MARY BRUCE: As the IDF entering this sort of next phase of this conflict, you know, the President again urged Prime Minister Netanyahu to act in a manner consistent with international humanitarian law. Does the President feel or does he feel that Israel is abiding by the rules of war?

ADM. JOHN KIRBY: Without getting into reacting to events on the ground in real-time, which we're just not going to do, this is a conversation that we constantly have had with our Israeli counterparts. And as you rightly note, it was part of a discussion yesterday with the Prime Minister. And you heard the Prime Minister today speaking in Tel Aviv about the efforts that they're undertaking to try to avoid civilian casualties.

And I think that they certainly are making that effort. It doesn't mean that there haven't been civilian casualties. Tragically there have be many, thousands of them. But unlike Putin in Ukraine, and unlike what Hamas did October 7, killing civilians is not a war aim of the Israeli Defense Forces. Their war aim is to go after Hamas terrorists. Terrorists, I might add – Terrorists, I might add, that are using innocent Palestinians as human shields.

BRUCE: But is the President concerned that Israel is going to break the rules of war and if not, why does the President feel the need to repeatedly bring this up in it seems every conversation that he has with him?

KIRBY: Because it's something that even the Prime Minister brings up in the conversation. They both recognize that as democracies, it's important to abide by the law of war and to protect innocent life and to try to minimize civilian casualties. It's not a lecturing. It's a reminder from two leaders of two vibrant democracies that that's what separates us from folks like Hamas.

NADIA BILBASSY-CHARTERS (Al Arabiya): The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. said that we should not be numb to the suffering of Palestinians, whether it’s the journalists, the ordinary people, or aid workers. The number now is 53. Every time we sit here, the number goes up. And also, Save the Children Fund said that the number of children that was killed in Gaza is more than the whole world conflict since 2019.

So why did you message – You keep saying that we don't want civilians to die and you asked Israel to exercise restraint and to abide by international law. Why do you think your message is not getting through to the people in the Middle East? They actually, basically don't believe that the U.S. is doing enough to protect civilians.

KIRBY: Well, back to Mary's question. There's not a single conversation we haven't had with our Israeli counter parts to better understand what they're doing to minimize civilian casualties.

(…)

3:52:42 p.m. Eastern

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: So, on Friday, the U.N. General Assembly called for humanitarian truce, 120 countries voted. The United States voted against it. The death toll in Gaza keeps rising. Is the U.S., at any point, calling for a humanitarian cease-fire?

KIRBY: We do not believe that a cease-fire is the right answer right now. We believe that a cease-fire right now benefits Hamas. And Hamas is the only one that would gain from that right now. As Israel continues to prosecute their operations against Hamas leadership.

What we have said should be considered and explored are temporary, localized humanitarian pauses to allow aid get to specific populations and maybe even to help with the evacuation of people who want to get out, move more to the south. We do support that. We don't support a cease-fire at this time.

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: Are you not afraid of being isolated in this? I mean, of being at odds with the international community?

KIRBY: I will let other nations speak for their prerogatives on this. President Biden has been crystal clear about where we are on this. It’s about making sure Israel has what it needs to continue to defend itself and to go after these Hamas leaders. It’s about making sure humanitarian assistance can get in to the hundreds of thousands of people that need it. And it’s about trying to find and get out hostages that Hamas is holding. Those are the three things we're focused on.

(…)

3:56:07 p.m. Eastern

SABRINA SIDDIQUI (WSJ): A question and a follow-up. First, can you confirm reports that the U.S. believes Israel took steps over the weekend to shut down Gaza’s phone and internet communications and it was the U.S. that convinced Israel to reverse those measures?

KIRBY: I would just tell you we’re glad to see the internet connectivity was restored.

SIDDIQUI: For 34 hours, the majority of Palestinians in Gaza had no way of reaching each other or the outside world. Emergency phone lines were down. The New York Times says paramedics were left driving towards the sound of explosions and people were left to die in the street. What is your response to that? Is that upholding the laws of war?

KIRBY: This is why we were glad to see the internet connectivity restored so that first responders could do their job, so that journalists could do their job, so that more information could pass between though the hands of innocent people in Gaza who want information about where to go, where not to go. I mean, we're glad to see that got restored. And yes, we were part of the conversations that led to that restoration.

(…)

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