U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday that President Joe Biden's administration does not view the killings of Palestinians in Gaza by Israel in its war with Hamas as genocide.
Sullivan said the United States wants to see Hamas defeated. He also said that Palestinians caught in the middle of the war were in "hell" and that a major military operation by Israel in Rafah would be a mistake.
"We do not believe what is happening in Gaza is a genocide. We have been firmly on record rejecting that proposition," Sullivan told reporters at the White House.
Sullivan expressed concern about reports of Israeli settlers attacking a humanitarian aid convoy on its way to Erez Crossing in northern Gaza, the second such incident in less than a week.
"It is a total outrage that there are people who are attacking and looting these conveys," Sullivan said. "It is completely and utterly unacceptable behavior."
@ISIDEWITH2 setmanes2W
Do you believe there is a difference between a government's official stance on a conflict and the moral obligations of its citizens to challenge or support that stance?
@ISIDEWITH2 setmanes2W
What responsibility do countries have to intervene or express dissent when foreign governments or organizations label violent conflicts with terms like 'genocide'?
@ISIDEWITH2 setmanes2W
Can the killing of civilians during a conflict ever be justified, and where do you draw the line between necessary military action and excessive force?
@ISIDEWITH2 setmanes2W
How do you personally define 'genocide,' and does your definition align or conflict with the White House's stance on the situation in Gaza?
