John Kirby
The White House announced Tuesday that US President Joe Biden has no plans to change his Israel policy in the wake of a fatal weekend raid on Gaza’s Rafah, but he will not turn a blind eye to the plight of Palestinian civilians.
According to Gazan health officials, 45 people were killed as a fire ripped through a displaced people camp following Israel’s raid on Sunday.
At a White House briefing, John Kirby, National Security Council spokesman, stated, “But Washington does not believe that Israel’s actions in Rafah amount to a full-scale operation that would breach Biden’s red lines”.
Kirby went on to say, “As a result of this strike on Sunday I have no policy changes to speak to”.
“It just happened, the Israelis are going to investigate it”, Kirby continued.
When asked how many charred corpses it would take for Biden to change course on the matter, Kirby responded, “This is not something that we’ve turned a blind eye to”.
Biden has previously stated that he would not back a major Israeli military attack in Rafah, where one million residents have fled, and earlier this month halted a shipment of heavy bombs to Israel over concerns that could be used against the southern Gazan city.
Despite repeated questioning, Kirby emphasized that the president was not moving the stick on how to define a major military strike against Rafah.
Kirby went on to say, “We have not seen them smash into Rafah”.
“We have not seen them go in with large units, large numbers of troops, in columns and formations in some sort of coordinated maneuver against multiple targets on the ground”, Kirby added.
Also read: Aid Supplies To Gaza Cease Following Damage To US Military Pier
