US defends Israel after journalists in Gaza are killed
At the first US State Department briefing since Israeli forces killed a number of Al Jazeera journalists in northern Gaza — including Al Jazeera’s prominent correspondent Anas al-Sharif — the Trump administration downplayed the incident, framing it as a risk of reporting in conflict zones, as reported by Middle East Eye on August 12th.
Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the US held “concern about the loss of any innocent life” but referred all investigative responsibility to Israel.
Bruce told reporters, “Many of you know of someone who’s been killed, who you’ve worked with because of a war situation”. Addressing a question from Aljazeera Arabic, she added, “We refer you to Israel. Israel has released evidence al-Sharif was part of Hamas and was supportive of the Hamas attack on October 7th. They’re the ones who have the evidence”. Sharif, 28, a father of two, had repeatedly insisted he held “no political affiliations”.
Al Jazeera said Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh, and four others died when an Israeli drone struck their tent outside al-Shifa hospital. The network called them “among the last remaining voices from within Gaza” who had delivered “searing eyewitness accounts” in over 22 months of bombardment.
Pressed on whether Washington would back an independent inquiry, Bruce rejected the premise that Israel fails to investigate, utilising the line of the Netanyahu government that Israel is “a nation fighting a war with a terrorist group that have always used human shields, have used hospitals, have used schools”. All the while at least 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza.
She confirmed half of the Trump administration’s $30m pledge to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) had been distributed, claiming the charity had provided 120 million meals. The same foundation also proposed to place “deradicalization” camps in Gaza. Furthermore, aid sites have been used to damage Palestinians even more. Amnesty International claimed Israel has used aid to carry out a genocide through starvation, by the means of US backed aid sites.
UN figures record nearly 1,000 Palestinian deaths at the GHF sites. Bruce maintained: “Nothing will ever be enough in a war zone. The war zone has to stop. It has to end.” While the US continues to be Israel’s firm ally.
Middle East Eye, Maghrebi.org
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