U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee speaks to reporters at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.
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00:00Thank you everyone, I appreciate your being here.
00:08It's a pleasure to have the opportunity to visit with you.
00:11All of you are aware of the fact that President Trump has made very clear
00:15that one of the most urgent things that needs to happen is humanitarian aid into Gaza.
00:21And he has tasked all of his team to do everything possible to accelerate that
00:26and to as expeditiously as possible get humanitarian aid into the people.
00:32So today we are announcing that that process is ongoing, it is launched.
00:39Many of you may be aware that yesterday at the State Department,
00:42the State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce outlined some general parameters.
00:47Those are ongoing.
00:49What I would just remind everyone is that there are certain key elements
00:54that the President has made clear to all of us as this process gets underway.
01:00The first is that food be distributed efficiently,
01:04but also that it's distributed safely inside Gaza to the people who desperately need it.
01:11The other factor, and this is an important one,
01:14that all of this be done in a way so that Hamas is not able to get their hands on it.
01:19Previous actions have often been met with Hamas stealing the food that was intended for hungry people.
01:25Nobody is interested in helping Hamas,
01:28because Hamas has taken food that was intended to help very desperate citizens
01:34and stolen it from them, sold it on the black market,
01:38and then took the money to buy weaponry to murder more people.
01:43The last thing Gaza needs is to have more people murdered, more people killed,
01:49and Hamas is 100% responsible for the horrific situation that has continued to exist there.
01:56They could have ended all of this October the 8th of 2023,
02:00but they have chosen to continue to hold hostages.
02:02They've continued to starve their people.
02:05They've continued to make it very difficult for any conclusion to this horrific war to end,
02:14and there still remains a desperate need for humanitarian aid that Hamas is obviously not capable or willing to provide,
02:24because they'd rather take any supplies that go into Gaza and use it for their own nefarious purposes,
02:31rather than to see children and other people fed.
02:35This effort will involve a notable amount of effort,
02:40and it is going to require the partnership not only of governments,
02:46but of NGOs, charitable organizations, nonprofits from around the world.
02:51There are several partners who have already agreed to be a part of the effort.
02:57We're not prepared to name them as of yet, because some of the details of their participation are being worked out.
03:06But the happy news is to report that there has been a good initial response.
03:11That response will only get stronger as we are able to start standing up the resources, moving the supplies into Gaza.
03:20There have been some news reports that are wholly inaccurate that have said that this is an Israeli plan.
03:27I want to say the Israelis are going to be involved in providing necessary military security because it is a war zone,
03:34but they will not be involved in the distribution of the food or even in the bringing of the food into Gaza.
03:41Their role will remain on the perimeter as is necessary to make sure that those who are bringing the food in and who are distributing the food are kept safe and out of harm's way in the midst of a war zone.
03:55The Israelis are supportive.
03:57Any allegation that the Israelis don't care about humanitarian aid is absolutely false.
04:04They care very much about humanitarian aid getting into Gaza, but they also care very much that Hamas doesn't steal that aid.
04:14But that is a view that is shared by the President and by all of us at the United States,
04:20because we truly want this to be a humanitarian effort, not an effort that we are ashamed of.
04:26In the coming days, there will be a lot more details that will be released and distributed.
04:34There are nonprofit organizations that will be a part of the leadership and the logistical concerns,
04:40and I'm sure you can imagine there are many, a lot of challenges to be able to make this work.
04:46To feed what will initially be perhaps over a million people and ultimately two million people requires an extraordinary amount of planning,
04:55planning and execution of the plan.
04:58So I will be happy to take questions related to this topic.
05:04I may not have answers for you, but I'll be honest and tell you if I don't have the answers.
05:08Yes.
05:09Hi, Lisa Rozovsky from Haaretz.
05:13Is the distribution dependent on the ceasefire, or will it start regardless of the ceasefire?
05:21And if so, when is it due to start?
05:24The humanitarian aid will not depend on anything other than our ability to get the food into Gaza.
05:31So it's not dependent upon other things regarding military action.
05:35As to when it will start, we all would hope the answer to that is very soon, but I can't give you an exact date.
05:41Patrick Kingsley, New York Times.
05:46We understand the structure of this process would involve four or five distribution zones,
05:54which will be guarded at the perimeter by the IDF.
05:58Inside, it will be private aid workers.
06:02And that they will distribute each zone to roughly 300,000, 350,000 people each.
06:10Can you confirm those details?
06:12And second of all, do you have a response to the UN concerns that this would potentially put civilians in danger
06:22because they would be coming through IDF lines, and also that it would force a lot of people to walk quite a long way,
06:31maybe up to 5, 10, 15 miles potentially, and that would be a logistical challenge for them.
06:40That's a lot of questions for one question.
06:42I'm not sure I can cover all of them, not sure that I will remember them all, but let me do my best.
06:47First of all, there will be private security that will be responsible for ensuring the safety of the workers,
06:54both getting into the distribution centers and then in the distribution itself.
06:59When I said the IDF will not be involved in that point of distribution, they will be involved in keeping the parameter safe,
07:09and they're the only ones who can do that.
07:11And I want to reiterate again, the Israelis are supportive of this program.
07:15They want it to happen, but they're not operating it.
07:19And that's important because there are some entities that would not want to participate if they thought that this was an IDF operation.
07:25It is not.
07:26It is a humanitarian operation that was initiated by the President in his mandate for us to get aid into the people who most desperately need it,
07:36but to do it in such a way as to not let Hamas control it.
07:39You mentioned the distribution points.
07:41There are initial number of distribution points.
07:43Those will be scaled up as soon as it is possible so that that is not the total number.
07:48That is the initial number, and that number will increase as the scalability is capable.
07:55And I'm trying to remember, was there another three or four or five or six or seven questions in that?
08:04Yes.
08:06The criticism from the United Nations is that this would endanger some Gazan civilians
08:11because, A, it would force them to go through IDF lines to reach this food.
08:14Yes.
08:15And second of all, at the moment they say there are 400 distribution points.
08:19This would reduce it to four or five points, meaning that people would have to walk a long way.
08:23That's difficult.
08:24It would put vulnerable people in potentially more vulnerability.
08:27Let me address the last question first.
08:30The logistical planning of this has indicated that there will not be that long a distance to get to the distribution points.
08:36So that is not accurate.
08:39And as far as the UN saying that they are concerned about the danger, the greatest danger, the most important danger,
08:45is people starving to death.
08:47There's the danger.
08:48We're going to have security.
08:50There will be security both at the distribution points provided by the contractors that will be engaged to do that.
08:57There will also be security parameters built by the IDF, again, at a distance from the distribution point,
09:03to protect them from the ongoing calculus of the war.
09:07But let's be real clear what the danger is.
09:09The danger is not doing anything.
09:11We call upon the United Nations.
09:13We call upon every NGO.
09:14We call upon every government, especially those who have been saying, why don't you do something?
09:19Why isn't something being done?
09:20Well, something is being done.
09:22So we invite people who have been concerned about it to join in this process.
09:27I will be the first to admit it will not be perfect, especially in the early days.
09:32It's a logistical challenge to make this work and to make it work well.
09:37But all of the partners, both the donors as well as those who will carry out the operation,
09:43are committed to getting it launched and making it work and making it work better as we go along.
09:50Yes.
09:51Male Speaker 1 I'll ask Alexander Cornwall from Reuters.
09:53Sorry, a few questions.
09:54In regards to private security.
09:55MR.
09:56We'll get the mic over there.
09:57Hold on just a sec.
09:59Male Speaker 1 Alexander Cornwall from Reuters.
10:00With regards to the private security that you mentioned, are these military contractors,
10:05what will be the rules of engagement?
10:07The second question is, on funding, who will be contributing to the funds?
10:12Will Israel, will the Gulf states, will the United States be funding this?
10:18MR.
10:19Answer to your questions, I don't know and I don't know.
10:22And it's not that I don't know some things, but I don't know some things that I can disclose
10:26at this time because there is a lot of moving parts that are still moving.
10:30So you've asked about rules of engagement.
10:34I'm not able to answer that right now.
10:36Everything will be done in accordance to international law.
10:39But I can't give you the specifics of that.
10:42And as far as – I think there was another part of the question regarding –
10:46MR.
10:47The funding.
10:48The funding.
10:49The funding will come from every source that we can receive.
10:51As I said, there are some people who have already committed to helping fund.
10:56They don't want to be disclosed as of yet.
10:58When they do, we'll announce them or they'll announce themselves.
11:02But we hope that every entity, whether it's a government or an NGO or a nonprofit or just private citizens,
11:08will find a way to help in this effort.
11:11And that's what we hope to be able to do.
11:13Greg?
11:14Mr. Ambassador, good to see you.
11:15Good to see you, Greg.
11:16Greg Palcott, Fox News.
11:17Let me juggle these microphones.
11:20Hold that.
11:21Fine.
11:23A question, please, Mr. Ambassador, and a follow-up, if I might.
11:26Does this humanitarian plan have anything to do with the plan that was revealed through Israeli sources last Sunday,
11:34which was pretty well criticized by the U.N. and other humanitarian agencies?
11:41And the follow-up is, as you noted, U.S. has a big role.
11:45In the immediate area, Israel has less of a role.
11:48Is the Trump administration now trying to work around the government of Prime Minister Netanyahu?
11:55You yourself last night said that the Israeli government did not have to be notified of the U.S. Houthi deal.
12:02There are discussions going on right now between Iran and the U.S. and intermediaries, Saudi Arabia, even Hamas.
12:10And we know that President Trump is not stopping here next week.
12:14Are you trying to work around the Israeli governments on a range of issues?
12:19Absolutely not.
12:20I think any characterization of that would be completely, absolutely untrue.
12:26There is an incredibly close relationship between the U.S. and Israel that continues.
12:30And I think even my comments may have been taken a little out of context.
12:34The rest of that story was the United States doesn't have to tell Israel everything it's going to do.
12:40Here's the second part that I said.
12:42Israel doesn't have to tell us everything they're going to do.
12:45It's a sovereign nation.
12:46We respect that.
12:48So there's no issue here that there's some kind of workaround going on.
12:54I wanted to make clear that this is not – and this is where the news story that was reported last week was really off the mark.
13:01This is not an IDF or an Israeli operation.
13:05That would cause some potential partners to say we don't want to be involved.
13:10The Israelis' role – and it's a significant one in helping provide security – but they're not operating the distribution.
13:17They're not operating the bringing of the food in or the distribution of the food when it gets into Gaza.
13:23They share the same concerns we do to make sure that Hamas doesn't have any of it.
13:27Do you not see the government here as a roadblock in any of the Trump administration efforts?
13:37Absolutely we don't see there being any roadblock at all.
13:40The relationship is – I think the word is often used here – ironclad.
13:46That's the operative word.
13:48I would say that that word is still operative, very much so.
13:52The level of cooperation between the United States and Israel is one that is not recent.
13:58It goes back for decades through Democrat, Republican administrations.
14:01It is one that has transcended every kind of situation that happens in the Middle East because it's important to both countries.
14:10So there is not an issue – and I want to make that incredibly clear – there is no sense of conflict or issue of separation between the longstanding alliance between the United States and Israel.
14:25And the President has made that clear.
14:27I'm here to work for him and to carry his message, and that's been his message without any equivocation.
14:32I think I was asking you – yes.
14:34Yeah.
14:35Lazer Berman from the Times of Israel.
14:36Good to see you again.
14:37Two quick questions.
14:38What's your assessment of the state of starvation in the Gaza Strip?
14:40There's been allegations.
14:41And number two, it seems like this plan is contingent on the IDF being deep in the Gaza Strip.
14:46If there is indeed a ceasefire, let's say, in the next week, it will probably involve IDF troops having to pull back to small buffer zones.
14:54Would this plan be able to go forward, or how would you stop Hamas from getting the aid if indeed the IDF pulls back?
15:00I think any ceasefire – and again, I'm just speculating – but any ceasefire still requires security.
15:05And there's not a matter of just saying everything's going to be fine and we're going to build campfires and sing kumbaya with marshmallows being toasted.
15:13That's not going to happen in Gaza any time soon.
15:16So the focus is going to be get the food, get it to the people who are hungry, keep it away from Hamas.
15:20It's really that simple.
15:22And how we make that happen is going to be the really challenging part of what happens over the next few days,
15:29and weeks.
15:30I'll take two more questions, I'll take yours, and then I'll go back over here, okay?
15:35I should have done yours first because the microphone was closer.
15:38But I want to be as efficient as government cannot be, and that's what I'm here to do.
15:42Yes, sir.
15:43Ambassador Huckabee, Jeremy Diamond, CNN.
15:44Thank you so much.
15:45First of all, just to follow up on Lazar, he asked you what your assessment is of the state of starvation and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
15:52Do you acknowledge that there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza right now?
15:56If there wasn't a humanitarian crisis, there wouldn't be an effort to try to deal with it.
15:59So the answer is obviously yes, there is a humanitarian crisis.
16:03That's why we need a humanitarian aid program going in.
16:06And it's also why it needs to involve all of the people of the world, government, non-government, nonprofit, everyone who has been saying there's a crisis.
16:17I expect them to step up and to now join the effort to resolve it.
16:23To the degree to which that crisis exists, I personally cannot answer that.
16:28It would have to be someone who is closer to the situation directly there.
16:32At best, about 60% of Gaza's population would be fed by this program.
16:37What about the other 40%?
16:39Everything is planned to be scaled up.
16:41You have to start somewhere.
16:43And the somewhere feeds an enormous level of the people of Gaza, and then it scales up from there.
16:50But they don't have time to wait, do they?
16:52Well, I don't know.
16:53Right now they've been waiting a long time, thanks to Hamas and their efforts to keep their people starving.
16:57I wish Hamas would decide that they wanted their people to have more food and would quit stealing it.
17:04And if that would happen, we would be further along than we already are.
17:07Now we're having to work around the threats that they pose to the aid workers that will be going in.
17:12It's why we have one of the big logistical challenges of making sure that we can secure their routes in, their routes out, and while they're on the ground in Gaza.
17:20And then just in terms of the wider picture, sir, to what extent, how important is it to President Trump that there be some kind of a ceasefire by the end of his visit next week?
17:30And how much pressure are you and the administration bringing to bear on Israel to make that happen?
17:35I think the ceasefire is really dependent upon is Hamas going to release hostages?
17:40Why do we still have 59 people who are hostages in Gaza?
17:45We don't know the exact number.
17:47I've seen estimates of 21 that are alive.
17:51Why are they still there?
17:53Why haven't they been released?
17:55How come it has been this long, more than twice as long as hostages were held in Tehran in 1979?
18:01And many of us are old enough to remember that.
18:03Some of you may not be, but I am.
18:05Why and how long must these hostages be tortured inside these tunnels before Hamas decides that they're going to let them go?
18:15And I just can't emphasize enough, we are here today with a crisis, not because of Israel.
18:22We are here today because of Hamas.
18:26They've initiated the crisis, they have prolonged the crisis, and they have exacerbated the crisis.
18:32And I hope the entire world, no matter where they are and what they believe, would join in a unison of condemnation for what Hamas has done to innocent civilian people that they murdered, that they've tortured, that they've raped, that they have beheaded.
18:51This is where the responsibility lies, and I don't ever want us to forget that.
18:55Final question, right here.
18:57Final question.
18:58Ambassador Mike, Barack from I-24 News.
19:01I wanted to ask you about the – there are many voices in Israel that oppose to that plan to send humanitarian aid to Gaza.
19:09And looking at the report about the civil nuclear plant for Saudi Arabia, there is a concern that Israel maybe will be left behind.
19:18Maybe President Trump is favoring much more of the U.S. interests than the Israeli ones.
19:24Can you comment on that?
19:26I don't know if I understood all of the questions, but I think the essence of it was, is the United States sort of backing away?
19:32Is that a fair assessment of it?
19:34I think the answer to that is an emphatic no.
19:36This is a President who has done more to stand with Israel than any President in American history.
19:42When Harry Truman made the first recognition of Israel in 1948, 11 minutes after Ben-Gurion declared the State of Israel, that was a significant moment and a historic moment when America launched its partnership.
19:56It has been strong through every administration, it has been strong through every political party, and it remains strong today.
20:05But under President Trump, it has never been stronger.
20:09And that is true when you see the many actions he's taken, whether it was the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state,
20:17whether it was the moving of the embassy, whether it was the recognition of the Golan Heights.
20:22But even more recently, since he's taken office just a couple of months ago, he immediately took away what had been a previous administration's embargo about providing necessary tools and ammunition to the Israelis to fight the war.
20:41And so the President has been consistent in his support and in his partnership, and I have no reason to believe that that won't continue.
20:49I appreciate your all coming, thank you very much for being here, and we'll continue to update you as we have more information to do so.
20:56Thank you, and Shabbat Shalom.
20:58Shabbat Shalom.