Sabrina Singh, the deputy Pentagon press secretary, was asked at a Monday briefing about an operation by the Israeli Defense Forces at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, in the central part of the coast enclave. “They claimed they went after militants. Other organizations on the ground saying actually a lot of civilians were killed in this operation and this medical establishment has been destroyed,” the journalist said.
“You know, we don’t ask to clear operations by the IDF before they go in,” Singh said of the Israel Defense Forces. “We do know that unfortunately Hamas does embed in—and use civilians as human shields, as we’ve seen in hospitals, schools, mosques.”
She referred the reporter to the IDF.
“So is it OK now for Israel to destroy hospitals?” the latter asked. The U.S. Defense Department spokeswoman again referred him to the IDF.
“No, from your perspective, from the—from the—let me put it this way—does the—is the secretary OK with the Israelis launching operations against hospitals in Gaza?” the reporter asked.
“I think, Fadi, that you can understand that the Israelis have an incredibly hard task in front of them,” Singh said.
“No, I don’t understand that,” he interjected.
"—well, just let me finish,” Singh said. “In an—a terrorist organization using—I’m just taking an example—a hospital, a school, a mosque as a place to operate out of. That’s not something that I think many modern, professional militaries have had to encounter before.”
The Pentagon has received “assurances” from the highest level of the Israeli military that “they are doing everything they can to ensure that civilians are protected,” Singh said. “We are absolutely—every single time in the readouts that we put out, we are imploring on them that they uphold humanitarian laws, that they, you know, conform to upholding the laws of armed conflict.”
“This is not our fight, so I can’t speak to all the operational decisions that are being made on the ground,” she added. “We certainly believe that one civilian death is one too many, but I—again, I can’t speak to this specific operation.”
Singh was also pressed on the U.S. claim that there would be no American boots on the ground in Gaza, where it is building an offshore pier for humanitarian aid.
“No boots on the causeway? Will there be boots on the causeway?” she was asked.
“No boots on the ground into Gaza. I—on the causeway, I mean, you’re going to have our ships coming up and—and, like, personnel probably helping offload cargo, but—,” she said.
“U.S. personnel helping offload cargo onto the causeway?” the reporter asked.
“Most likely, but not onto—not into Gaza,” she said. “Not driving.”
