US: Hospitals and staff in Gaza must not be put at further risk
White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said that hospitals and medical personnel in Gaza, which is under Israeli attacks, should not be put at further risk.
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Kirby answered questions from journalists at the daily press briefing.
Regarding Israel's increasing attacks around the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza, Kirby said, "We have been very clear about this. We have patients there, we have medical staff there, we have innocent people whose lives are literally at risk. They should not be put at any more risk than they already are."
Pointing to the presence of civilians trapped in the hospital due to health issues, John Kirby stated, "That is why we do not want to see fighting in hospitals."
Kirby said, "I do not have specific intelligence on the extent to which Hamas is or is not using that hospital (the Indonesian Hospital)."
DEFENDED ISRAEL
Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby defended Israel regarding the Haaretz newspaper's claim about those who died at the Nova Music Festival on October 7.
Kirby claimed that the newspaper report, which included the allegation that many people at the festival lost their lives as a result of fire opened by Israel, was "not true."
Offering no evidence, John Kirby said, "Frankly, it's not true. There was a mass paragliding landing at a music festival. So Israel had no contribution to this."
HAARETZ'S REPORT
The Haaretz newspaper had provided information regarding the security assessment made by Israeli security officials concerning the attack organized by Hamas from Gaza on October 7.
In the assessment of senior Israeli security officials, based on interrogation records of Hamas members and the police investigation into the incident, it was stated that Hamas did not have prior knowledge about the music festival held near the Gaza Strip.
According to the report, the police investigation noted that most of the festival attendees managed to escape because it was decided to stop the party half an hour before the first gunshot was heard.
The Haaretz report claimed that the investigation also revealed that an Israeli combat helicopter hit civilians while firing at Hamas members, and included the following statements:
"According to a police source, the investigation also shows that an Israeli military combat helicopter that arrived at the scene and apparently opened fire on the terrorists there also hit some of the festival participants. According to the police, 364 people were killed at the festival."