Pressed on why the US formally recognized the genocide in Sudan while refraining to do so in the case of Gaza, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby insists that it’s because no genocide is unfolding in the coastal enclave.
“The IDF isn’t waking up every day and putting their boots on the floor, saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to go kill some innocent people because they happen to be Palestinian,'” Kirby says during a press briefing.
“That doesn’t mean that there haven’t been too many civilian casualties in this conflict… and we have been nothing but direct with our Israeli counterparts about our concerns on that and about trying to get them… to be more discriminate about the civilian toll in Gaza. It’s unacceptably high… but that is not the same as saying genocide,” he argues.
The White House spokesperson says slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and his terror organization have been the ones with “genocidal intentions,” as demonstrated during their October 7 onslaught.
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