‘Let Me Finish’: State Dept. Spox Clashes With Reporter Over Whether Hamas Could Surrender
Harold Hutchison on December 4, 2023
A State Department spokesman sparred with a reporter who questioned whether Hamas could surrender during a Monday press briefing.
Israel resumed military operations against the radical Islamic terrorist group Friday after efforts to extend a truce ceasefire during which multiple groups of hostages were released failed. “So you are asking Hamas to surrender?” a reporter asked State Department spokesman Matthew Miller after Miller questioned why he didn’t get questions about whether the radical Islamic terrorist group would lay down its arms.
WATCH:
Hats off to @StateDeptSpox for smacking down this reporter who argued that Hamas isn’t able to surrender because it “isn’t a military.”pic.twitter.com/LLqnW4rZtW
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) December 4, 2023
“Is that what you are saying? They are not an army, they don’t have an air force, they don’t have a navy, they have none of these things,” the reporter added.
Hamas carried out a deadly terrorist attack on multiple locations in southern Israel Oct. 7, killing over 1,400 people.
“They may not have a navy, no, no, no, let me finish, they may not have an air force, they have sufficient firepower to have killed 1,200 people on October 7th,” Miller responded. “So don’t tell me Hamas can’t lay down their arms and take additional steps to protect civilians, let alone moving out of all the areas that are putting Palestinian civilians in harm’s way.”
Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and other left-wing members of the House of Representatives known as “The Squad” released statements calling for a ceasefire almost immediately after Israel began its response to the Oct. 7 attack. Tlaib and Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota posted tweets in October that echoed claims by Hamas that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had bombed a hospital in Gaza, killing over 500 people.
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