‘Who Is Israel Supposed To Negotiate With If The Leader Of Hamas Is Dead?’: Reporter Grills Kirby

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During a White House press briefing on Wednesday, National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby was asked about the latest death of journalists in Gaza and the death of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

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Transcript

00:00Hi, John.

00:01Two of al-Jazeera journalists were killed today in Gaza, Ismail al-Ghul and his cameraman

00:07Rami al-Rifi, in an Israeli airstrike.

00:11It was obvious they were journalists.

00:13Everything was clear that they were journalists and were targeted.

00:16Are you condemning this, and do you have any other reaction regarding the killing of journalists

00:21continuing since October 7th?

00:24I don't have any specifics about this particular strike to speak to, so it's difficult for

00:28me to get into any detailed discussion of it.

00:32We obviously continue to not only recognize and honor the service that journalists do

00:38around the world, particularly in places like Gaza.

00:40It's very dangerous.

00:41It's a combat zone.

00:42We know that that takes a special kind of bravery for a journalist to go on the ground

00:48in a place like that, and we want to make sure, as I think Karine has mentioned herself

00:52in just the last day or so, that press freedoms are observed and recognized and respected

00:57and that reporters are allowed to do their job, and that includes covering the war in Gaza.

01:01But I just don't have any detail on this particular strike to be able to characterize it one way

01:06or the other.

01:07Obviously, our hearts go out to the families and all those who are touched and affected

01:11by this terrible loss.

01:13John, I know we've talked about what you've said before about the temperature going down,

01:21but Secretary Austin also spoke about this and said that the sense was that the temperature

01:27was going down in the Middle East.

01:29So can you say to what extent this was a surprise?

01:33This doesn't help.

01:35Like, was the U.S. caught off guard?

01:37These reports over the last 24, 48 hours certainly don't help with the temperature going down.

01:42I'm not going to be Pollyannish about it.

01:44We're obviously concerned about escalation.

01:47And again, without confirming the reports over the last 24 in terms of Tehran,

01:51certainly the IDF has already spoken to operations that they've conducted elsewhere.

01:56All of this adds to the complicated nature of what we're trying to get done.

02:00And what we're trying to get done is a ceasefire deal that can get you six weeks in Phase 1,

02:05get a lot of hostages, the most at risk, out of there and home with their families,

02:09and get some more humanitarian assistance in there.

02:12I keep coming back to that, but it's important that we do keep coming back to that

02:16because that's what we're really trying to drive at.

02:18And if we can get to Phase 1, by God, we can maybe get to Phase 2.

02:21And if you can get to Phase 2, maybe you can get a cessation of hostilities.

02:24When you have events, dramatic events, violent events caused by whatever actors,

02:30it certainly doesn't make the task of achieving that outcome any easier.

02:34But who is Israel supposed to negotiate with if the leader of Hamas is dead?

02:41Again, I can't confirm the reports coming out of Tehran or Hamas's statements.

02:47We still believe there's a viable process.

02:50We still believe there's interested counterparts.

02:53And we still believe that there are meetings and discussions to be had.

02:57We wouldn't have a team over there right now if we didn't believe that it was possible

03:00to try to gather together and push this forward.

‘Who Is Israel Supposed To Negotiate With If The Leader Of Hamas Is Dead?’: Reporter Grills Kirby

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