The Biden administration does not believe that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters in Washington on Monday.
“We do not believe what is happening in Gaza is a genocide. We have been firmly on record rejecting that proposition,” Sullivan said.
The US is “using the internationally accepted term for genocide, which includes a focus on intent,” Sullivan explained, adding that the Biden administration has also backed Israel on this matter at the International Court of Justice.
“The United States actually made a presentation [there] backed up by legal analysis, which I would invite you to read because it lays out all of those crimes,” he stated.
South Africa's case against Israel
The ICJ is in the middle of adjudicating charges by South Africa, that Israel is guilty of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, due to its military campaign to destroy Hamas in that enclave. It is expected to hold an additional hearing this Thursday and Friday on a South African request for more provisional measures.
The United States and Israel both believe that Hamas is a terror organization. It forcibly seized power in Gaza in 2007 and has ruled it since.
Sullivan said that what is happening in Gaza is a war between the State of Israel and the terrorist group Hamas, whose mission is to annihilate Israel and kill as many Jews as they can.”
He noted that the war began on October 7, “when Hamas massacred 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages” even though there was a ceasefire in place.
“The United States wants to see Hamas defeated and justice delivered to [its leader Yahya Sinwar,] there can be no equivocation on that.
“The Palestinian civilians caught in the middle of this war are in hell. The depth and trauma they’ve endured are unimaginable. Their pain and suffering are immense. No civilian should have to go through that,” Sullivan stated.
He spoke as US President Joe Biden has been under attack by street protesters who have persistently heckled him and other administration officials on the issues, calling him “Genocide Joe."
Among the issues of concern have been the fatality count, which Hamas had this month reported is close to 35,000. It has not presented a count of how many of those are combatants it has lost.
Israel has said that the IDF has killed some 14,000 Hamas combatants in Gaza, while Hamas claims that 70% of Palestinian deaths due to the war were women and children.
The United Nations has used that data to provide a fatality count. On May 6, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry reported 34,735 Palestinian deaths in Gaza, of whom it said, 9,500 were women and another 14,500 were children.
In addition, it has said, some 10,000 Palestinian bodies are likely hidden under the rubble of destroyed buildings.
Two days later, on May 8, Hamas revised its reporting of Gaza war fatalities. While it still provides the number for reported deaths, it also now states that it has verified just 24,686 of those deaths as of April 30.
When counting the number of verified deaths of children and women, however, it noted that these categories only accounted for 52% of the fatalities. Put in real numbers, it said that 4,959 Palestinian women and 7,797 children had been killed as a result of the war.