National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that the Biden administration was demanding the Israeli Defense Forces makes “deconfliction changes’ in Gaza
Partial transcript as follow:
MARTHA RADDATZ: He says this is a war against humanity and things have to change now.
KIRBY: Well, our – our hearts continue to go out with Chef Andres and his whole team at World Central Kitchen. As you know, the president spoke to him. The president shares that grief and sorrow.
As we have made clear, there’s going to have to be some changes to the way the Israeli Defense Forces are prosecuting these operations in Gaza, to make sure that this doesn’t happen again. And some of the changes we talked about, certainly more humanitarian aid and assistance getting in. But just as critically, Martha, there’s got to be changes in the deconfliction process. The information flow between aid workers on the ground and the IDF in their headquarters so that this kind of targeting can’t happen again.
RADDATZ: Are you satisfied with the investigation? He clearly wants to see more done. Would you like to see a further investigation?
KIRBY: We’re – we’re looking at the investigation right now, Martha. We haven’t come to any conclusions one way or another. This was an investigation that was done sort of akin to like an inspector general. So, it was outside the chain of command. But again, we’re working our way through that.
RADDATZ: Andres said he questioned the Israeli claim that the drones could not see the logo on top of the car. Is he right to question that?
KIRBY: I don’t know. We haven’t also seen, as far as I know, haven’t seen any – any of the specific video evidence. So, it’s hard to know what their sight picture was at night.
Now, certainly, operations at night can be more difficult. There’s technology, though, that can allow you to burn through the darkness to – to see better.
RADDATZ: In drones, right?
KIRBY: In drones and infrared technology. But I just don’t know what – I don’t know what they were using in terms of their – their technology to look at this. But clearly — and they have admitted that they obviously made a mistake here.
What really matters is that they take steps going forward to make sure it can’t happen again and that they’re transparent about those steps.
RADDATZ: And – and I just want to talk about rules of engagement. The Israeli military says it’s a grave mistake, but the drone operators spotted who they said he thought it was a gunman get into one of those cars. And yet even if it wasn’t an aid convoy, they destroyed three cars. Is that legitimate rules of engagement?
KIRBY: I think, again, we’re going to have to work our way through this investigation. And the decision-making process that goes in, not just one but then three strikes, and what the – what the intelligence was telling them, at least what they believed it was.
We know from our own experience that the intelligence you get and you process and you analyze may not always be accurate. And you act on that intelligence. So, again, we just have to learn a little bit more about this investigation to see.
But, as I said, I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but what really matters is they make the deconfliction changes and the communication changes so that this doesn’t happen again.
I mean we’ve already seen Chef Andres is concerned, of course, about operating on the ground. Other aid organizations are probably making these difficult decisions. And we’ve got to make sure that they feel safe and secure getting into Gaza and distributing that aid.
Now, certainly, operations at night can be more difficult. There’s technology, though, that can allow you to burn through the darkness to – to see better.
RADDATZ: In drones, right?
KIRBY: In drones and infrared technology. But I just don’t know what – I don’t know what they were using in terms of their – their technology to look at this. But clearly — and they have admitted that they obviously made a mistake here.
What really matters is that they take steps going forward to make sure it can’t happen again and that they’re transparent about those steps.
RADDATZ: And – and I just want to talk about rules of engagement. The Israeli military says it’s a grave mistake, but the drone operators spotted who they said he thought it was a gunman get into one of those cars. And yet even if it wasn’t an aid convoy, they destroyed three cars. Is that legitimate rules of engagement?
KIRBY: I think, again, we’re going to have to work our way through this investigation. And the decision-making process that goes in, not just one but then three strikes, and what the – what the intelligence was telling them, at least what they believed it was.
We know from our own experience that the intelligence you get and you process and you analyze may not always be accurate. And you act on that intelligence. So, again, we just have to learn a little bit more about this investigation to see.
But, as I said, I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but what really matters is they make the deconfliction changes and the communication changes so that this doesn’t happen again.
I mean we’ve already seen Chef Andres is concerned, of course, about operating on the ground. Other aid organizations are probably making these difficult decisions. And we’ve got to make sure that they feel safe and secure getting into Gaza and distributing that aid.
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
