White House Asked Point Blank: Will New Arms Shipments 'Be Used In Rafah?'

4 months ago

During a Press Briefing on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre answered reported questions on arms shipments to Israel.

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Transcript

00:00I'm going to ask about this new arms deal for Israel.

00:03It would include tank ammunition, tactical vehicles,

00:07and mortar rounds.

00:07That's according to our reporting.

00:09Is the president not concerned that those

00:11are the kinds of things that could be used

00:14in a military operation in Taraffa?

00:18So I would have to refer you on the specifics of what

00:23is being talked about, spoken about,

00:24with the weapons transfer package.

00:26That is something that the State Department would

00:29have to speak to.

00:31And I kind of addressed this already about how

00:33two things could be true.

00:36We believe that Israel has the right to defend itself.

00:41Obviously, when it comes to their security,

00:43it's ironclad.

00:44And we believe that they have every right

00:46to go after Hamas, a terrorist organization.

00:48We've been very clear about that.

00:51And we've also said they need to do this

00:52where we see protection of civilian lives.

00:57And so those things could be true,

00:59and those conversations are going to continue.

01:01I cannot speak to this package.

01:02That is something that the State Department can speak to.

01:05I can't speak to the process.

01:06I can't speak to what's in it.

01:08That's for the State Department to lay out.

01:10Well, you've drawn a real distinction, I think,

01:11between offensive and defensive operations.

01:15And the president was clear that the reason for pausing

01:18on the shipment of bombs is because those

01:20are the kinds of bombs that could

01:22be used in a RAP operation.

01:24So I'm just asking again whether tank ammunition,

01:26tactical vehicles, and mortar rounds,

01:28are those not things that could also potentially

01:31be used in a RAPA operation.

01:32So we have been clear.

01:34I can't speak to the specifics of what

01:35is in this transfer of weapons.

01:37I can't.

01:37What I can say is that we have been clear that Israel

01:40has a right to defend itself.

01:41We are committed to Israel's security.

01:44That is ironclad.

01:45That is true.

01:47We believe that they should have the right

01:49to defend themselves against their enemies, including Hamas.

01:52Including Hamas.

01:54And so that is what you see here.

01:56That is what you're going to continue to see from us.

01:59When it comes to our potential concern

02:02of a major offensive operation in RAFA,

02:04we've talked about that.

02:05We've talked about that, which is

02:07why we paused that one shipment, because

02:09of our concerns of a major offensive operation.

02:12Not asking you to confirm the details of the specific arms

02:15sale, but the list that I just gave,

02:17does the US see those things as being purely defensive weapons?

02:23What we have been very clear about,

02:24Israel has the right to defend itself.

02:27That's what we believe.

02:28We paused one shipment that we believe

02:30could be used in a potential offensive operation in RAFA.

02:36And we've been very clear about that.

02:37It's one shipment that we paused.

02:39But it doesn't take away from the fact

02:43that Israel should be able to defend itself

02:45against its enemies.

02:47And that's what this is about.

02:48That's what we're talking about here.

White House Asked Point Blank: Will New Arms Shipments 'Be Used In Rafah?'

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