Top White House official refuses to say if Israel is following international law
Deputy national security adviser Jon Finer would not say during an interview on "Meet the Press" on Sunday whether the White House is confident that Israel is following international law after Israeli forces invaded Gaza’s main hospital last week.
Deputy national security adviser Jon Finer would not say during an interview on "Meet the Press" on Sunday whether the White House is confident that Israel is following international law after Israeli forces invaded Gaza’s main hospital last week.
Hundreds of patients and staff, including dozens of premature babies, were evacuated from Gaza's main hospital, Al-Shifa, after Israel raided the hospital, which suffers from a lack of fuel to power its incubators. More than 1.6 million people have been displaced in Gaza since Hamas launched its brutal attack on Israel on Oct. 7, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said. The World Health Organization has described the hospital as a "death zone."
During Finer’s interview on “Meet the Press,” host Kristen Welker pointed to the Qatari prime minister’s comments saying Israel’s actions at Al-Shifa were a “crime” as Israeli forces continue to operate at the hospital. The IDF has said that Hamas was operating a command center under the hospital, citing images of weapons and a tunnel. NBC News has not independently verified the claim, and hospital staff have denied it.
“Does the White House stand by Israel’s assessment that Hamas is headquartered underneath the hospital? And are you confident that Israel is following international law?” Welker asked.
Finer said U.S. intelligence suggests that Hamas has used Al-Shifa “in an unconscionable way as a command and control facility for the planning of terrorist attacks and the execution of terrorist attacks and continues to do so."
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