US reacts to killing of journalists in Gaza: Israel 'is a nation fighting a war'

Middle East Eye

5 days ago

At the first US State Department briefing since Israel killed a team of journalists in northern Gaza on Sunday - including Al Jazeera's highest profile correspondent in the strip, Anas al-Sharif - the Trump administration appeared to brush off the attack as a mere casualty of being in a war zone before deferring to Israel for any potential investigation.
While the US has "concern about the loss of any innocent life", spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters on Tuesday, "many of you know of someone who's been killed, who you've worked with because of a war situation".
"I will remind you again that we're dealing with a complicated, horrible situation," she told a reporter from Aljazeera Arabic who asked if she was comfortable with the Israeli justification for targeting Sharif.
"We refer you to Israel," she added. "Israel has released evidence al-Sharif was part of Hamas and was supportive of the Hamas attack on October 7. They're the ones who have the evidence".
Sharif, a longtime Al Jazeera employee and father of two who died aged 28, had always said he had "no political affiliations".
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But Bruce insisted that "Hamas, historically, has had members who are embedded in society, including posing as journalists".
Israeli forces deliberately killed six Palestinian journalists, five of whom worked for Al Jazeera, late on Sunday in an intentional drone strike, hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected international condemnation over his plan to occupy the Palestinian enclave.
The Al Jazeera Media Network said in a statement that its correspondents Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, along with four other colleagues, were targeted when Israeli forces struck their tent outside al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.
"Anas and his colleagues were among the last remaining voices from within Gaza, providing the world with unfiltered, on-the-ground coverage of the devastating realities endured by its people," the statement read.
Gaza: Online tributes pour in for Al Jazeera journalists assassinated by Israel Read More »
"Through continuous, courageous live coverage, they have delivered searing eyewitness accounts of the horrors unleashed over 22 months of relentless bombing and destruction".
Asked if the US would back an independent commission to look into the killings of journalists, which the Gaza media office has said totals 247 victims since 7 October 2023, Bruce brushed off any doubts that Israel can investigate itself if it needs to.
"I would take issue with your premise here to say that Israel, every time, has failed to do that," she said.
"This is a nation fighting a war with a terrorist group that have always used human shields, have used hospitals, have used schools... it's been just the worst example of the barbarity of human beings, if you can call them that," she said in reference to allegations against Hamas.
"We call on our ally and partner, Israel, to investigate these situations. I do it from this podium. The United States does it. We expect investigations, and for a sovereign nation to engage in that. And then we'll follow up to see what those results are," Bruce said.
Food aid
Regarding aid allowed in by Israel, Bruce confirmed that half of the $30m pledged by the Trump administration to the scandal-plagued Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has already been distributed.
'That situation is rapidly evolving. We've been working from the beginning for a ceasefire, specifically for the reasons you've noted and that we all care about, which is the aid for the people of Gaza," she said.
"Hamas has been at war with the people of Gaza. We've seen that through their refusal to stop this war," she added, despite multiple offers the group said it has made to Washington since Trump took office.
GHF has so far given out 120 million meals, Bruce said.
It remains unclear how the US arrives at its figures, given that Palestinians have described the rations as meagre.
Not everyone makes it back alive. According to the United Nations, nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli soldiers, quadcopters, or US military contractors at the four GHF sites in Gaza.
But despite initially distancing the US government from what was meant to be a private entity, Bruce has increasingly defended the GHF.
"Nothing will ever be enough in a war zone. The war zone has to stop. It has to end," she told reporters.
"What I can tell you is what this administration is trying to do: Trying to stop it, finally, once and for all".