Kirby: US change in policy on Israel hangs on protection of aid workers

White House National Security and Public Affairs Advisor John Kirby said the United States will wait to see what Israel does in the coming hours and days and that U.S. policy is focused on protecting aid workers. He said that

Kirby joins fox news channel “Your World with Neil Kabuto” on Thursday, shortly after President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone for about 30 minutes, reported that seven aid workers, including one American, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. This was their first conversation since his death.

“What we need to see is more aid flowing in and more efforts made to keep humanitarian workers safe. “It’s kind of a matter of our assessment of how well we comply with that,” Kirby said.

Seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers were killed on Monday, drawing sharp criticism of continued Israeli shelling in Gaza. President Biden issued a statement Tuesday saying he was “outraged” by the news of the worker’s death.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed responsibility for the “unintentional” airstrike, calling it a “tragic event” but also saying such things happen in war.

Kirby said the conversation between the two leaders was “very direct” and covered a lot of ground. He said Biden was frustrated by the rising number of civilian casualties, the risks posed to humanitarian workers and, “frankly, the lack of progress in increasing the amount of humanitarian aid to Gaza.” He stated that.

“So the president has clearly communicated to Prime Minister Netanyahu that some changes need to happen,” Kirby said.

During the call, Biden pressed Netanyahu to reach a cease-fire agreement that would free the remaining hostages in Gaza.

Kirby said it was “fair to say” that Biden’s message was “fairly received” and that Netanyahu understood where Biden was coming from.

Mr. Kabuto asked Mr. Kirby what the United States would do if more people were killed. Mr Kirby said it was a “great question” but also a “hypothetical question”, so he “didn’t want to get ahead of” the current situation.