• last year
On Monday, Admiral John Kirby was asked about the US stance on a ceasefire between Israel & Hamas.
Transcript
00:00 couldn't be certain.
00:01 Thank you.
00:02 So, on Friday, the UN General Assembly called for a humanitarian truce.
00:07 One hundred and twenty countries voted for it.
00:08 The United States voted against it.
00:09 The death toll in Gaza keeps rising.
00:10 Is the U.S. at any point calling for a humanitarian ceasefire?
00:22 We do not believe that a ceasefire is the right answer right now.
00:28 We believe that a ceasefire right now benefits Hamas.
00:33 And Hamas is the only one that would gain from that right now, as Israel continues to
00:39 prosecute their operations against Hamas leadership.
00:42 What we have said should be considered and explored are temporary, localized humanitarian
00:49 pauses to allow aid to get to specific populations and maybe even to help with the evacuation
00:53 of people that want to get out and move more to the south.
00:56 We do support that.
00:57 We do not support a ceasefire at this time.
00:59 Are you afraid of being isolated in this?
01:03 I mean, of being adults within the international community?
01:08 I will let other nations speak for their prerogatives on this.
01:11 President Biden has been crystal clear about where we are on this.
01:14 It's about making sure Israel has what it needs to continue to defend itself and to
01:19 go after these Hamas leaders.
01:20 It's about making sure humanitarian assistance can get in to the hundreds of thousands of
01:25 people that need it.
01:27 And it's about trying to find and get out hostages that Hamas is holding.

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