National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that the Biden administration is demanding “deconflict changes” from the Israel Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip.
MARTHA RADDATZ: He says this is a war against humanity and things have to change now.
Kirby: Well, our hearts remain with Chef Andres and his entire team at World Central Kitchen. You know, the president spoke to him. The president shares that sadness and sadness.
As we have made clear, some changes will be needed in the way the IDF conducts these operations in Gaza to prevent this from happening again. And some of the changes that we talked about are certainly more humanitarian aid and aid coming in. But just as importantly, Martha, there has to be a change in the process of conflict resolution. Information will be exchanged between aid workers on the ground and the IDF at headquarters to ensure this type of targeting never happens again.
RADDATZ: Were you satisfied with the investigation? He clearly wants to accomplish more. Would you like to investigate further?
KIRBY: We’re–we’re looking into it right now, Martha. In any case, no conclusion has been reached. This was an inspector general type of investigation. In other words, it was outside the chain of command. But again, we’re working to get through it.
RADDATZ: Andres said he doubted Israel’s claim that the drone could not see the logo on the car. Is he right to question that?
Kirby: I don’t know. We haven’t seen any concrete video evidence or anything to my knowledge. So it’s difficult to know what the night scene was like.
Indeed, night operations can be more difficult. But there is technology that burns through the darkness and allows us to see better.
RADDATZ: It’s a drone, right?
Kirby: Drones and infrared technology. But I have no idea what they were using to check this. But clearly, and they admitted they clearly made a mistake here.
What really matters is that we take future steps to prevent this from happening again, and that we are transparent about those steps.
RADDATZ: And I just want to talk about the rules of engagement. In what the Israeli military says is a grave mistake, drone operators say they spotted what they believed to be the gunman in one of the vehicles. Yet they destroyed three cars, even though they were not aid teams. Are those lawful rules of engagement?
Kirby: Again, I think we need to move forward with this investigation. And the decision-making process that takes place there was attacked not just once, but three times, and what the intelligence services were telling them, or at least what they believed.
We know from our own experience that the intelligence we obtain, process, and analyze is not always accurate. And you act on that intelligence. So, again, we need to learn a little more about this study.
But like I said, I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but what’s really important is that they change their collision avoidance and change their communication so that something like this never happens again. is.
I mean, we’ve already seen Chef Andres worry about ground operations. Other aid organizations are likely making these difficult decisions as well. And we have to make sure they feel safe when they go into Gaza and distribute aid.
