Washington’s ambassador to Israel said the US government is ‘fully supportive’ of recent military action in Gaza
Tom Nides, US Ambassador to Israel, stated that Washington fully supports the fight against Israel “bad guys”Gaza Strip after violence flared between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants inside the blockaded enclave.
Speaking to Israel’s Channel 13 for an interview on Wednesday, Nides said the US government is “aware of the situation going on in Gaza”and believed that the Israeli latest operations were part of “an important mission.”
“These are bad guys,”Continued the Envoy, speaking of Palestinian Armed Groups, and adding, “We support Israel’s right to defend itself, its right to basically take the actions it needs to keep this place safe, so we’re fully supportive of Israel’s actions.”
Starting last Friday, the Israel Defense Forces launched multiple strikes against Gaza. They primarily claimed to be targeting fighters of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. (PIJ) is a militant group accused of firing rockets into Israel. Local officials claim that 44 Palestinians died in these operations. This includes at least one child.
Although an insecure ceasefire agreement was reached in Gaza on Sunday through the assistance of Egyptian mediators, and is currently in effect, Palestinian officials from the West Bank claimed that Israeli forces killed two teenage boys in clashes that followed a raid on the house of a high ranking militant commander. The PIJ has condemned these deaths and warned that it will resume rocket volleys. “if the enemy does not abide by what we agreed on,”However, the fighting has not started again.
Ambassador Nides went on to say that the White House was not informed of Israel’s operations in Gaza ahead of time, but added “I don’t think we were surprised.”
“I don’t think we were told in advance but I think we were aware as the actions were taking place,” he said, again reiterating “We were pretty clear that we support the state of Israel’s security.”
Briefly addressing negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, Nides echoed the White House’s increasingly impatient tone toward the Islamic Republic, maintaining that “Every option is on the table”To contain Iran’s alleged threat. The envoy stated that Iran has always denied any intention to develop a bomb. “We’re not going to allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon,”Echoing the remarks made by Joe Biden in the past.
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