Pentagon Asked Point Blank: How Many Palestinian Civilians Have Been Killed By US Provided Weapons?

4 months ago

Pentagon spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder was asked about how many Palestinian civilians have been killed by US provided weaponry.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00 So yesterday the president acknowledged that Palestinian civilians have been killed

00:04 by US provided weapons

00:07 Do you have a number of how many or assessment of how many civilians were killed by these weapons?

00:12 And does the secretary feel any moral obligation to kind of make that assessment?

00:17 I don't have a number Fadi again as we've said from the beginning

00:23 The loss of any innocent lives in this conflict are tragic

00:28 We've been very clear from the start with our Israeli partners

00:31 That we expect that they will employ any capabilities

00:35 We provide them in accordance with the law of armed conflict and international humanitarian law and that has been a consistent

00:42 and

00:44 Steady conversation that we've had from with them from the beginning and it continues to now

00:49 So again as they contemplate how they will approach Hamas and rough and rough up

00:57 we

00:58 certainly have provided our thoughts and how to best do that to take civilian safety and

01:03 Humanitarian assistance into account and we'll continue to have those conversations. You're talking about expectations

01:08 however, as you just mentioned before that one of the

01:13 consideration about that 2,000 bombs is

01:16 The density of the population and how they were used before in other location by Israel

01:22 Why didn't you restrict before the use of these bombs knowing that Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas?

01:29 In the world and were you expecting something different was it a mistake not to restrict the use of these bombs in Gaza?

01:36 Well, you know look a couple things first of all again, we've been very consistent from the beginning in terms of how we

01:44 Believe that Israel should approach addressing the threat of Hamas

01:49 About the importance of precision in going after Hamas

01:53 We've also been very clear that more needs to be done to ensure the safety and security of civilians innocent civilians in Gaza

02:00 You know, and I don't have to tell you again the the challenging

02:05 Environment here with an adversary that again embeds itself amongst the civilian population that said

02:13 We absolutely do not want to see innocent lives lost in this tragic conflict

02:20 so again, we're going to continue to consult with Israel as they

02:24 Look at how to address Hamas in Rafa and we will continue to do what we can

02:29 To not only ensure that civilian safety is taken into account

02:33 But also look at how we can continue to get humanitarian assistance, whether it's by land sea or air

02:40 to help

02:43 This is technical

02:45 Is there any interest in the Pentagon to look into how many civilians were killed by the US provided?

02:53 You know look funny right now. There's a

02:55 ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel and we understand

02:59 The complex and dynamic nature of that conflict. So our focus right now is on getting humanitarian assistance into Gaza

03:09 Also continuing to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself

03:13 And again, I'd highlight just several weeks ago when they were attacked

03:17 By Iran in an unprecedented unprecedented air attack

03:21 So those threats are real and at the end of the day what we're all working toward

03:27 alongside many partners in the international community is a situation where

03:31 Israelis and Palestinians can live next to one another in peace. There can be security and stability

03:37 In Gaza and the region and again, we'll continue to work toward that.

Pentagon Asked Point Blank: How Many Palestinian Civilians Have Been Killed By US Provided Weapons?

Category

Transcript

Recommended