On Friday’s MSNBC show “Morning Joe,” White House National Security and Communications Advisor John Kirby said Hamas doesn’t care about the Palestinian people and that if it did, “they’d have weapons.” They will abandon them, step aside, and they will ignore them.” He said, “We will release those hostages,” but they rejected the offer to release the hostages. Mr Kirby also said too many civilians had been killed in Gaza and the number of civilian casualties “needs to go to zero”.
While discussing the hostages, Kirby said: I don’t. Just a few weeks ago, a very good proposal was placed at the feet of Hamas after CIA Director Bill Burns negotiated it in Cairo. They haven’t accepted the proposal. In fact, they suggest they don’t. Now, yesterday they came out and said they would only release the hostages if there was an independent state for the Palestinian people. There can be no independent Palestinian state with Hamas controlling Gaza, that’s not possible. If they really care about the Palestinian people, if they really care about an independent state, they should lay down their arms, step aside, release the hostages, and let us continue the work of cooperation. Israel and the Palestinian Authority will strive for a revitalized Palestinian Authority that can actually manage and meet the aspirations of the Palestinian people. ”
Kirby then said there was no evidence that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, adding: “That being said, there have been far too many civilian casualties, and the president has talked about it.” he added. Number must be zero. And there are too many people who are hungry and in need. Therefore, we will continue to urge Israel to do more to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians and to achieve a ceasefire that will allow for the rescue of all hostages. And after a six-week ceasefire, we will try to find a permanent way to end this conflict. The president is fully committed to that. ”
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