National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says the White House is "not dictating military terms" to the Israeli Defense Forces as it prepares for an expected ground invasion but he says getting humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza is "critically important."
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00:00 Good afternoon, everybody.
00:02 John, is it your view that the Israelis should begin their Gaza offensive whenever they feel
00:07 ready?
00:08 It's our view that the Israeli Defense Forces, Steve, need to decide for themselves how they're
00:12 going to conduct operations.
00:13 We're not in the business of dictating terms to them, and we're certainly not going to
00:17 be in the business here from the White House of previewing any future operations one way
00:22 or the other.
00:23 That would be inappropriate.
00:24 What kind of humanitarian aid would the U.S. like to see reaching the Palestinians before
00:30 Israel launches a ground invasion?
00:31 I'm not going to sit here and assume that there's going to be some sort of a ground
00:35 invasion, and I'm certainly not going to speak to hypothetical timing if there's going to
00:38 be.
00:39 Let's just talk about humanitarian assistance writ large.
00:42 And you heard Karine.
00:43 We are getting food, water, medicine into Gaza.
00:47 Not enough.
00:48 I mean, there's been, I think, what, three convoys, a little less than 60 trucks.
00:54 That's a good start, but it is just a start.
00:56 We want to see it keep going.
00:58 And I think over the coming days you're going to continue to see convoys of trucks getting
01:02 in.
01:03 But it's also – fuel is also an issue.
01:06 We know that you need fuel to run power generators in hospitals.
01:11 You need fuel to run the pumps in the desalination facilities so that people can drink fresh
01:17 healthy water.
01:19 So fuel is another thing that we're working on.
01:22 Whether or not there is a ground invasion, do you view humanitarian aid getting there
01:27 first as important?
01:30 Whether or not there's a ground invasion, we believe that humanitarian assistance flowing
01:33 to the people of Gaza is critically important, and it needs to go as soon as possible and
01:39 as much as possible.
01:40 And where does the President stand on this?
01:41 Because there was some confusion over the weekend about whether or not he had said that,
01:46 yes, he does want Israel to wait until humanitarian assistance can get to the Palestinians before
01:54 any invasion.
01:55 We have been crystal clear with our partners in the region, including Israel, that we want
02:00 to see humanitarian assistance flow.
02:02 There's been no change to our posture on that at all.
02:05 But as I said, I think to Steve's question, we're not dictating military terms to the
02:09 Israeli Defense Forces.
02:10 They have a right and a responsibility to go after these terrorists, and they certainly
02:14 are going to do it in a way that they choose to - that they believe is appropriate to the
02:19 threat.
02:20 We're definitely going to support them in terms of providing the capabilities for them
02:24 to continue to prosecute Hamas terrorists.
02:26 In fact, security assistance has continued to flow over the course of the weekend, and
02:30 it will.
02:31 But we're not dictating terms to them.
02:32 Admiral, can you tell us the latest on the status of hostages and the work to try to
02:39 release additional hostages?
02:40 Do you see a category of those being held who might be sort of the next available to
02:46 be released if that were to take place?
02:48 Can you give us a sense of what that picture looks like?
02:50 I wish I could, Kelly.
02:51 I really do.
02:52 And these are all great questions, but unfortunately, where we are right now in the process makes
02:56 it impossible for us to publicly detail the efforts that are going on.
03:00 We are grateful for all the help we got, and we got help getting those two Americans out,
03:05 the mother and daughter.
03:07 We're glad that they're okay and they're going to be reunited with the families and come
03:12 back home.
03:13 But there's a bunch of others that aren't.
03:15 Now, a small group, we still think are Americans.
03:19 And then there are dozens and dozens from other countries, and obviously Israel as well.
03:24 There's just a lot of effort going on, a lot of conversations and discussions with partners
03:28 in the region, and I think it's just best if we don't detail that.
03:31 Do we have more specificity on the number of Americans?
03:33 We still have about 10 unaccounted for Americans.
03:36 And it's not exactly clear to us where those 10 people are.
03:40 So I would still categorize it as about a handful.
03:44 And I know that's not the specificity you want, but that's really as detailed as I think