Department Press Briefing – November 6, 2023

QUESTION: He said that more aid – that there’s U.S. effort to get more aid in. Could you give us an update on that? There’s been some slowdown in the aid getting in there. How optimistic is the U.S. for getting more assistance into – in through Rafah?

MR PATEL: Look, I would echo what the Secretary said earlier today, that we continue to push through this aggressively. We know that there continues to be a dire need for humanitarian assistance, and we’re going to continue to work those efforts to ensure that that can happen. I would also use this opportunity to note that as of November 6th, approximately 476 trucks carrying humanitarian supplies had entered Gaza through the Rafah Crossing. That number, the number of trucks arriving in Gaza, has been steadily increasing over the past recent days, thanks in large part to Special Envoy Satterfield’s important work and the coordination role that he’s playing between Egypt, Israel, and humanitarian partners to scale up the delivery of assistance.

We also recognize that that is not enough and we know that more is needed, and we’ll continue to work with partners in the region as the Secretary has been so that we can work to increase and sustain assistance as this progresses.

QUESTION: I’m sure there’s follow-up on that, but on the Americans who are – that’s another part of this equation. I think the latest figure we’ve heard was more than 300 U.S. citizens or green card holders or relatives. Do you have an update on how many Americans are – have been able to leave and how many more might be still waiting to leave?

MR PATEL: So that continues to be the figure that we’re tracking. [As of] November 1st we’ve assisted more than 300 U.S. citizens, LPRs, and other eligible individuals to depart. We expect these numbers will continue to grow, and we’ll have more updates as, of course, that progresses. And for impacted American citizens we’ll continue to remain in close touch with them as opportunities to leave continue to present themselves.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Vedant. Can you update us specifically today on Rafah Crossing? Is it in fact open today? And if so, why did it close? At whose instruction did it close over the weekend?

MR PATEL: So our understanding is that it was open today till sundown in the region, and as for the day-to-day updates of opening and closing, I’m just not going to get into that. Obviously this is something the Secretary and Matt have spoke to as well, but it’s important to remember that this is not a crossing we control, and so we’re continuing to work in the region to ensure, one, that humanitarian assistance can flow appropriately into Gaza to help civilians; but also, American citizens who are interested in departing are able to do so at the appropriate cadence that these crossings are open.

We are in contact with U.S. citizens and their immediate family members and are keeping them informed of the shifting conditions. We’re acting – we’re asking impacted U.S. citizens to not just keep an eye out for contact from the department but also keep an eye out on the Palestinian general authority crossing and borders Facebook page, where some of these lists are being updated on a regular basis about who’s going to be eligible to cross or not.

QUESTION: So there are reports that Hamas insisted it be closed in order to secure a commitment from Israel that it would not strike ambulances. There are reports that Hamas wanted to get assurances that wounded Palestinians could get out. Can you weigh in at all on the validity of those reports?

MR PATEL: I can’t. I don’t have any confirmation or assessment to offer on those. I think broadly, of course, we’re doing everything we can to ensure that the impact on civilians is as minimal as possible, and we’re continuing to coordinate in the region to assist impacted American citizens.

QUESTION: Okay. Just two quick other ones.

MR PATEL: Sure.

QUESTION: Of the 476 trucks that you said entered since – as of November 6th, did any of those go today? Were there any aid trucks going —

MR PATEL: I don’t have – for operational security reasons, Olivia, I’m just not going to parse into specific breakdowns beyond what I’ve shared.

QUESTION: It had been the practice of the department to update us regularly on the number of trucks going in and people getting out.

MR PATEL: As we have more metrics to share, we certainly will be in a place to do so, but I don’t – I’m not in a place to parse these more specifically at this moment.

QUESTION: Okay. And one last one: Was the Secretary able to secure a commitment from the Israelis about fuel getting into Gaza? That has been a top concern – hospitals facing shortages, if not completely devoid of fuel. Did the Israeli Government make any commitment about the provision of fuel into Gaza?

MR PATEL: So fuel is obviously something that we are continuing to pay close attention to. It is urgently needed in Gaza. It plays a critical role in enabling the desalination and distribution of clean water. We understand that there are legitimate sensitivities around that, and so we’re continuing to work through Special Envoy Satterfield and others and discussing directly with our Israeli counterparts, our Egyptian counterparts, and others of ways that we can allow fuel into Gaza in a way that will benefit civilians but not potentially empower Hamas or be diverted in a way – in such a way.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: I have others, but I’ll defer to colleagues.

MR PATEL: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Two questions if you don’t mind.

MR PATEL: Yeah.

QUESTION: So according to State’s website, right now we’ve got 70 countries at a Level 2, 20 countries at Level 3, and 20 countries at a Level 4 Travel Warning, indicating that Americans are now either at increased risk or completely unsafe in 110 countries in the world. How concerning is that to the State Department?

MR PATEL: I would actually take issue with how you are characterizing our Travel Advisory warnings. They are not – they are – they are assessments of what our recommendation is for travel to those regions. And then on specific countries, there are specific breakdowns of what those potential risk factors could be. Level 4, the highest level, indicates it is a country that we do not believe is safe for American citizens to travel to. And —

QUESTION: Right.

MR PATEL: — going down from 4 to 1. So it’s a little bit more nuanced than the way that —

QUESTION: Where’s the disagreement? I characterized —

MR PATEL: — than the way that you characterized it.

QUESTION: — it as Americans are either at an increased risk or they’re unsafe in those countries, which is why State Department advises them to not travel there.

MR PATEL: That’s correct. I still don’t understand, though, your question.

QUESTION: Well, the big picture is that there’s 110 countries, right, which is, I think, more than half the countries that the U.S. recognizes around the world, where Americans are at increased risk right now. Is that concerning to the State Department?

MR PATEL: There are a variety of factors that go into assessing what the Travel Advisory is for a specific country. Obviously risk for violence, arrest, wrongful detention, public health factors – these are the many things that go into an ultimate travel designation. And when circumstances change in a particular region, as you saw us do for Israel and the Palestinian territories in the aftermath of the horrific October 7th attack, we will update our Travel Advisories to ensure that American citizens have the most up-to-date and best information possible. But I would – I would not say that there is some kind of trend or anything like that. What this is about, each country is different; we make those assessments based on the in-country conditions and we make sure that the American people have the best information possible.

QUESTION: So does it not – is it not concerning overall? Is that – how would you categorize looking at the big picture right now?

MR PATEL: This isn’t about the big picture. This is about the specific travel indicators and safety indicators in a specific country, and each country is different and the circumstances in some countries are different than others. So this is not about the big picture. This is about assessments and indications that are in each unique country, and when those circumstances and those situations change, we adjust our Travel Advisory warning for that specific country. It is on a country-by-country basis. In some countries it is even on a province-by-province, on a region-by-region basis. That is the specificity and the seriousness by which we take this.

I understand, like, what you’re trying to ask. I just categorically reject that this is some kind of broad brushstroke trendline. This is about individual, specific countries and the parameters that exist in certain countries that make them a Level 1, a Level 2, a Level 3, or a Level 4.

QUESTION: Can I ask a quick follow-up —

MR PATEL: Sure.

QUESTION: — on the aid question?

MR PATEL: Sure.

QUESTION: How confident is the administration now that Hamas is not – I mean, I asked the same question last week and the answer was that Hamas had not, as of that time, diverted or stolen any aid that had gone in through Rafah. Is that still the status quo?

MR PATEL: That continues to be – that continues to be our – that continues to be our understanding. There have been no reports of the diversion of aid. There’s been no reason for us to believe that there’s been a diversion of aid to Hamas. Both the State Department and USAID, we have a robust process in place to mitigate that risk. We work collaboratively to vet partners in the region, to vet assistance partners and things like that to ensure that aid directly or indirectly does not benefit Hamas or any other potential terrorist group in other parts of the world where we have aid as well. We take this responsibility to the American taxpayer incredibly seriously.

Said, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Vedant. Yesterday The New York Times attributed to a U.S. official concurring with the figures that are stated by the health ministry in Gaza on the number of killed. This figure as of today is about 10,000-plus, including 4,000 children. Do you accept that figure? Do you concur with that figure?

MR PATEL: Said, that is a figure – that is one of the figures that is currently being used —

QUESTION: Okay.

MR PATEL: — to assess the number of casualties in Gaza right now. And candidly, Said, of course any number above zero is heartbreaking.

QUESTION: I understand. I just want to ask you if you have other figures. I mean, you’re saying there are other figures. What are the other figures?

MR PATEL: I am not saying there’s other figures, and I think if you are referencing some of the comments made last week by the President and others about questioning those metrics, I think we were very clear that no one in this administration is questioning that fatalities have happened, that civilians have lost their lives in Gaza. What we are saying is that this is a ministry that is run by Hamas that just a number of weeks previously – please let me finish, Said – that just a number of weeks previously had unleashed a horrific terrorist attack on Israel, that has a track record of inflating and being inaccurate about fatalities.

And so the point that we are simply making is that there is that track record. That does not mean that these civilian casualties are not heartbreaking, that we – that does not mean we’re not doing everything we can to ensure that number stays as low as possible. There is not another entity counting casualties in the region right now.

QUESTION: Right, okay.

MR PATEL: The security parameters in the region right now make it difficult for other entities to be able to do so. So that is the number that currently exists. Of course it is heartbreaking for any number —

QUESTION: Right. I understand all this.

MR PATEL: Yeah.

QUESTION: I just want to let you know there is actually a system, because COGAT controls all these things. Everyone born, everyone that dies in Gaza, is listed by the authority for the territories and Gaza in Israel. But that’s up to you. I’m not asking – I’m not arguing this issue. I’m saying, do you accept what was said in The New York Times, attributed to a U.S. official, that they actually do concur with the figures that were stated or listed by the government – the ministry of health in Gaza?

MR PATEL: Yeah. And again, Said what I would just say is that no one in this administration, myself included, questions the humanitarian crisis that is happening in Gaza or that there has been a significant loss of civilian life.

QUESTION: Okay. I —

MR PATEL: As it relates to that specific number, again, I’m aware of that specific reporting, and it continues to be a number that we are also including and looking at and assessing in our own internal assessment and parameters of the situation that’s ongoing.

QUESTION: A couple of other issues if I may.

MR PATEL: Yeah.

QUESTION: If my colleagues indulge me. On the issue of the West Bank and the guns that are going to Israel, the new M-16s and so on, are you confident that these will not be handed to the settlers, as Ben-Gvir promised?

MR PATEL: Said, we have been incredibly clear to our partners in Israel that steps need to be taken to address the extremist violence that we have seen in the West Bank. And we heard the Israeli Government, and the Secretary has been deeply engaged in this directly as part of his travels, making these – we’ve heard the Israeli Government making these commitments and understanding that there is a responsibility there. And we’re watching very closely to make sure that it happens.

QUESTION: Okay. And let me ask you something. I mean, we have seen in Washington a demonstration that probably have close to 300,000 – a lot of people out there. Do you take note of that? Do you take of this – these demonstrations in Los Angeles, in New York, across the globe as a matter of fact – 2 million people in Indonesia and so on – that are calling for a ceasefire? Do you actually take this into account, or you completely dismiss this public sentiment?

MR PATEL: Of course, Said, there are a number of factors that go into whatever this government response or viewpoint is going to be on any particular issue area in the world. And that of course includes the situation right now in the Middle East. Of course, first and foremost is what we believe to be in the interest of the American people and in the national security interest of the United States. But yes, of course, we are watching closely around the world as many are making their voices heard and exercising their freedom of speech and the First Amendment to make their points of view clear as it relates to this.

QUESTION: And do you believe – finally, finally, I promise. Do you believe that after the Secretary’s trip that he went through the region, that you guys would have a better idea what the endgame should look like, or what it should be, and when? I mean, this thing can go on forever, the bombing of civilians and so on.

MR PATEL: That continues to be one of the many things that is being discussed and is being looked at not just by the Secretary while he is in the region traveling but by others as well. Of course it is incredibly important to think about the steps that are being taken to ensure that Hamas cannot do this again, and what other things might look like for the region. But one thing that has been evergreen and consistent, Said, is that we have been clear that we continue to believe that the only sole viable path for durable security and durable peace for Israelis and Palestinians is a two-state solution.

Will, you hand your hand up. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Yeah, thank you. Just kind of following up a bit on Said’s points and Olivia’s.

MR PATEL: Yeah.

QUESTION: Looking at the civilian deaths mounting quickly to 10,000, and they keep mounting; looking at the humanitarian hang-ups, in terms of fuel and other goods; is the administration feel like it’s under pressure not just from protesters, from Democrats in Congress, from others, to change its message to Israel, to change – to use its influence with Israel to bring about a course change. Is the administration under pressure, and is there a limit, is there a point somewhere if the civilian casualties keep adding up or humanitarian goods don’t flow, where the administration might change its message to Israel?

MR PATEL: Will, what I can just say is that right now we are squarely focused on a number of things. First, that continues to be ensuring that humanitarian aid can get into Gaza and help the civilians that need it. No one in this administration – myself, Matt, the Secretary, the President – is trying to undermine or downplay the severity of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza right now.

Number two, we’re continuing take steps to work with the Israeli Government and other partners in the region to ensure that hostages can be released, and that can be done so as swiftly as possible. And one of the messages that Secretary Blinken is carrying loud and clear in his travels to any country is that it cannot be as business as usual with Hamas, and any country who has – feels that they have a constructive role to play in the release of these hostages should do so.

And thirdly, we’re taking steps to continue to support our Israeli partners as they defend themselves and ensure that Hamas cannot do something like this again.

And of course, throughout all of that we are making it incredibly clear that there are international laws in which the ways these operations need to be conducted and that steps need to be taken to ensure that civilian – the impact on civilians is minimized as much as possible. We’ve been clear with that with the Israelis. It’s something that the Secretary has raised in his travels directly with his counterparts, and it’s something that we’ll continue to do so.

And meanwhile, Congress, others, the American people should continue to make their voices heard and to express their opinions about what’s happening around the world. We believe that’s incredibly important, too.

Nadia.

QUESTION: Thank you. I have three questions. The Jordanian air force managed to air drop last night medical assistance to Palestinians in Gaza. Why can’t the U.S. do the same, and you can add water bottles for example or food that can be dropped from the air that happens actually in many other conflict area like in southern Sudan, for example? That’s my first question.

MR PATEL: I’m not going to speak to the specifics of the security parameters, Nadia, that would allow such an operation to happen or not happen. I just don’t have the expertise to speak to that. So I can get back to you to see if we have anything additional.

QUESTION: But if – yeah, if it’s something that the U.S. can —

MR PATEL: Happy – happy to check. But what I will just note, though, that we have taken our responsibility as it relates to the humanitarian response incredibly seriously. As I said at the beginning of this briefing, 476 trucks have made it into Gaza through the Rafah Crossing. We continue to do everything we can to ensure that additional humanitarian aid can get into the region. It’s something that the Secretary is incredibly engaged on as well.

And as you probably remember, in October the President announced an additional $100 million in U.S. Government support to continue to support humanitarian needs. Through USAID, we’ve also been able to provide pharmaceuticals and other medical supplies, and we have been – through the UN World Food Program been able to distribute electronic food vouchers and others.

I’m not at all saying that any of this is enough. As I have said, that this continues to be a dire humanitarian situation and more is needed, and the American people and people around the world can expect the United States to continue to take these kinds of efforts.

QUESTION: Yeah, because this operation at times, it was coordinated with the Israelis, so I guess it’s doable for the U.S.

Do you believe that Israel in this months-long war with 10,000 civilian dead, 4,000 kids, 720 people being displaced according to the last figure from the UN – do you believe that Israel has not violated any international law, humanitarian law, the Geneva Convention, with the staggering figures that we are citing today?

MR PATEL: We have been incredibly clear, Nadia, about the necessity of taking feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm, and we believe that that’s especially true when it comes to children and refugees. Our viewpoint is that deaths are not just – they’re not just metrics, they’re not just statistics. They are lost futures. They are lost dreams and lost potentials.

We have said publicly and privately dating back to October 7th that Israel has every right to defend itself, to defend its security. We also believe very clearly, though, that it is important for Israel to differentiate between Hamas terrorists and civilians even as Hamas continues to use civilian shields and Hamas continues to put their infrastructure and their rockets in places in civilian areas and have dug tunnels deep underneath critical civilian infrastructure in Gaza that has impacted protected sites like schools and hospitals and other civilian infrastructure. All of this is incredibly important and all of this are things that we are raising directly with our Israeli counterparts. When the Secretary travels around the world and meets with people like Prime Minister Netanyahu and his counterparts, that’s not just hyperbole. It’s not just for – to put a readout in your guys’ inboxes. It is direct, hand-to-hand diplomacy, face-to-face, making these issues that are incredibly important to the United States – putting them front and center as we continue to navigate this region.

QUESTION: Finally, just one last question. Sorry. On the settlers violence – there’s reports that actually the Israeli Government has been asking for a new shipment of rifles to arm settlers in the West Bank, and this has to be approved by the State Department. And I guess you have to inform Congress as well. How do you differentiate between the weapons that you provide to Israel, which clearly – the U.S. law says it cannot be used by civilians by any army, let alone by settlers? Will you consider it illegal in the West Bank?

MR PATEL: So I’m not aware of that specific report, Nadia, but what I would just say is – reiterate what I told Said. We are – while we pay attention to, of course, what’s happening in Gaza, we continue to be incredibly concerned about what’s happening in the West Bank as well, especially in the space of extremist violence. We have raised those concerns directly with the Israeli Government, and we have heard from the Israeli Government that they are going to make a commitment on dealing with extremist violence more effectively. And that’s something that we’re going to continue to pay close attention to. But as to your specific – this specific report, I’m not tracking.

Michel.

QUESTION: Thank you. I have a couple questions, if you don’t mind.

MR PATEL: Yeah.

QUESTION: The New York Times first reported that U.S. officials have sent messages to Iran and Hizballah to say that the U.S. would be prepared to intervene militarily against them if they launched attacks against Israel. Can you confirm on this report, especially that Iraqi prime minister visited Tehran after hours of the Secretary’s visit to Baghdad?

MR PATEL: So I’m not going to speak to – first, I would say any notion that a message has been sent is categorically false. That is not true. But from the day one of this administration, Michel, we have been clear-eyed about the many threats that are posed by Iran, and since these October 7th attacks – and even prior to that – we have used a combination of deterrence, pressure, and diplomacy to continue to counter Iran’s destabilizing activities. And we continue to be clear-eyed about that and will take appropriate steps in the region as we need to.

QUESTION: And second, what’s your assessment for Hizballah secretary general speech? And do you take his threats seriously?

MR PATEL: We’re aware of his speech on Friday, and I’m certainly not going to engage in a war of words from up here. Look, we’ve been clear about this, that the U.S. does not seek to escalate or widen the conflict that Hamas has started against Israel. We and our partners have been very clear, and the Secretary has been clear about this message on his travels. Hizballah and other actors should not try and take advantage of the ongoing conflict. We don’t want to see this conflict expand into Lebanon or across the broader region. The likely devastation for the Lebanese people would be unimaginable and entirely unavoidable.

QUESTION: And do you take his threats seriously?

MR PATEL: We take, of course, any threat against the region seriously. It’s why the United States has reacted in the way that it has, ensuring that we’re taking steps to protect our personnel and our partners in the region. You’ve seen the Pentagon make a number of announcements about the assets that they have moved into the region since October 7, and so would just refer you to them for anything additional.

QUESTION: And my final question is —

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR PATEL: I’ll come back to you. Let Michel finish. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Are you still concerned that the conflict may expand to the region?

MR PATEL: It is something that we’re continuing to pay close attention to and it’s something that we are warning any country in the region, as well as partner countries, to take whatever steps they can to ensure that this does not spread.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: The public is wondering why U.S., United States, still refusing ceasefire. More than 4,000 children killed in Gaza. Israel still, till now, targeting bakeries, school, hospitals, under the umbrella of self-defense, which is – they consider it is insulting their intelligence, you know?

MR PATEL: So —

QUESTION: And I need another question, please.

MR PATEL: Okay.

QUESTION: It is about the Israeli minister who talk about dropping nuclear bomb on Gaza.

MR PATEL: Okay. I’m happy to answer those – both of those. First, we have been very clear about this. A ceasefire right now would prevent – would not prevent Hamas from continuing terror attacks and firing rocket attacks at Israel in the future. And on the contrary, it would let Hamas off the hook, allow Hamas enough time to regroup, and we can’t allow that. And no nation can be expected to tolerate those kinds of conditions. But one thing we have been very clear about, both the Secretary and the President, have been the need for a humanitarian pause to enable a sustained flow of aid and voluntary movement of civilians seeking to depart. It would also allow an opportunity for the potential release of hostages, which continues to be something that we’re calling for directly.

Again, and then as it relates to your question about that minister, I’m sure you saw Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli Government have repudiated those comments, which we also found as wholly unacceptable. And we continue to believe that it is important for all sides of this conflict to refrain from hateful rhetoric that is going to further incite tensions.

QUESTION: Is it acceptable to destroy Gaza under the umbrella of self-defense?

MR PATEL: What we have been really clear about is that Israel has every right to defend itself and to defend its security, all while ensuring that Hamas is not able to conduct these kinds of terrorist attacks. Again, throughout all of that, we’ve also been incredibly clear that it is important for Israel to distinguish between Hamas terrorists and Palestinian civilians, and that continues to be something that we’re raising directly with our Israeli counterparts, and it’s something that we’ll continue to do so.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you so much, Vedant. Nice to see you up here. The Bangladeshi people, they want a free and fair election. U.S.A., from this room, they declared the C-3 visa policy, and now ongoing vandalism and destruction of public properties by Bangladesh Nationalist Party activists on the pretext of exercising democratic rights in contributing to the – disrupt the peaceful political environment to upheld the next parliamentary election in Bangladesh. Will you ask nationalist party to stop the violence and participate the upcoming general election? And I have another one.

MR PATEL: We continue to closely monitor the electoral environment in Bangladesh leading up to this January’s election, and we take any incidents of violence incredibly seriously. We are engaging and will continue to engage with the government, with opposition parties, with civil society, and other stakeholders to urge them to work together for the benefit of the Bangladeshi people.

QUESTION: Thank you so much. And I’ll be – Peter Haas, the honorable ambassador, in a really difficult situation. Last week, when the nationalist party leaders, they bring an U.S. citizen to their head office on the camera to declare that he is the adviser of President Biden and he has everyday connection with 10 to 15 times with President Biden. And then the – another party leaders, BNP leader, has been telling, calling Peter Haas an avatar, as a rescuer for the nationalist party. Will you categorically deny this claim from the nationalist party, please? Thank you.

MR PATEL: I’ve not seen that report. And I’m going to be honest – I really have no idea what you’re talking about. So let me just say this —

QUESTION: Just to give you —

MR PATEL: Please don’t interrupt me. We have an incredibly talented team at our embassy in Dhaka, led by an experienced ambassador who is well-versed not just working in Bangladesh, but also the broader region largely. And as I have said, we are closely monitoring their electoral environment in Bangladesh, leading up to January’s election.

QUESTION: Thank you so much.

MR PATEL: Go ahead. Behind Shaun.

QUESTION: Vedant?

MR PATEL: No, no, sorry – in front of you.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR PATEL: Yeah.

QUESTION: Going back to Gaza —

MR PATEL: Sure.

QUESTION: — and the situation there. So the unequivocal support the U.S. is showing for Israeli self-defense, how does the U.S. plan to address the disproportionate responses and ensure that U.S. military aid does not exasperate the situation, the crisis in Gaza? And I also have a follow-up, which is about the humanitarian work. What are you doing? What steps are you taking to hold accountable all the parties who obstruct the delivery of humanitarian aid?

MR PATEL: Well, let me take your second question first. So first, as it relates to the Rafah Border Crossing, which continues to be a key conduit for the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, the fact of the matter and the ultimate and unfortunate truth is that this is not a crossing that the United States controls. And so the tools at our disposal are to continue to work with the region, with our Israeli partners, with the Government of Egypt to ensure the flow of humanitarian aid is possible.

As I said at the beginning of this briefing, 476 trucks carrying humanitarian assistance have been able to enter [as of] November 6th. We know that is not enough. And one of the reasons – one of the things that the Secretary is discussing on his travels is ways in which the United States can continue to bolster its humanitarian aid and support the civilians in Gaza who needs some of this help. And that’s something that we’re going to continue to look at from all angles and pursue lines of effort in whatever way we can. Earlier last month, the President announced $100 million in additional funding to support humanitarian efforts in Gaza. We’ll continue to work those lines of effort as well.

And to your first question, again, I will reiterate that we have been clear with our Israeli partners that, while they defend themselves and defend their security, it is incredibly important that they distinguish between Hamas terrorists and Palestinian civilians. This is something that we will continue to raise with them directly and will continue to engage and conduct in the diplomacy that is required to make that clear. But again, it’s important to remember that no country would be able to condone the kind of terrorist attacks that were unleashed on Israel on October 7th, and it is of course – it is Israel’s responsibility to distinguish between Hamas terrorists and Palestinian civilians. And so we’ll continue to raise that directly with them.

Olivia.

QUESTION: Could I please just go back to this question of humanitarian pauses?

MR PATEL: Yeah. Yeah.

QUESTION: Because for all of the directness with which the United States has confronted the Israeli Government on this, the clear answer from Prime Minister Netanyahu over the weekend is that there will be no pauses unless and until Hamas releases all of the hostages. I’m assuming that’s not within the realm of possibility in the immediate term, but correct me if I’m wrong. And if it isn’t, isn’t that a pretty clear rejection of consistent and clear U.S. asks in the course of this conflict?

MR PATEL: I don’t think that these circumstances and these situations are black and white necessarily, Olivia. We will continue to raise publicly, privately, directly with our Israeli partners what we believe to be avenues to allow for humanitarian aid to get into Gaza to support the Palestinian civilians who need it. And, of course, Israel will continue to conduct and make assessments about this operation, as they are the ones doing so. But the President, the Secretary have been very clear that a humanitarian pause allows – is an opportunity to allow for the sustained flow of aid and the voluntary movement of civilians who may wish to choose to depart. This is something that the Secretary raised directly on his travels, and it’s something that we’ll continue to work at through our diplomacy.

QUESTION: Can you just clarify what Olivia just said on – what is a pause? I mean, is there, like, a legal definition for a pause? We know what a ceasefire is; there are legal grounds for that. What is a humanitarian pause? Is it like five hours, 10 hours? What is it, in your view?

MR PATEL: That is something that would need to be determined through this process. In our view – in our view, Said —

QUESTION: Is there a legal definition for a pause in the fighting?

MR PATEL: Said, I’m not going to assign a timetable or a —

QUESTION: No, I’m just curious. I just want to know.

MR PATEL: — or an assessment like that to it. What I will say, in our view, is that a humanitarian pause is an opportunity that will allow for the enabled flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, that will allow for the voluntary movement of civilians seeking to depart, and potentially create an opportunity and an avenue for the release of these civilian hostages who continue to be held and being detained by Hamas terrorists.

QUESTION: But respectfully on that point, so despite all of the public and private appeals by the U.S. to the Israeli Government, it appeals they’re going – it appears they’re going unheeded, right?

MR PATEL: Again, we’re not going to get into the specifics of our private diplomatic conversations. What I will just say is that this is something that we’re going to continue to raise directly with our Israeli partners, and oftentimes some of this diplomacy is best left behind the scenes.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Vedant. I’ll follow up on the international law question.

MR PATEL: Sure.

QUESTION: Because on Saturday, an Israeli airstrike killed four children and three siblings of my colleague from Anadolu, Mohammad Al-Aloul. Their house was just completely destroyed when an Israeli airstrike targeted the al-Maghazi refugee camp. They were, of course, among the other – thousands of other Palestinians who were killed. You have been calling on Israel to act in line with international law and minimize harm to civilians, but does the U.S. – I mean, do you think that calls from the U.S. to Israel have been insufficient in terms of forcing Israel to act in line with international law?

MR PATEL: Again, I’m just not going to get into the specifics of these ongoing diplomatic conversations that are happening. We have been incredibly clear with our Israeli partners that civilians need to be protected, that they need to distinguish between Hamas terrorists and Palestinian civilians, and we believe that we will continue to raise that, and we’ll continue to raise that directly with our Israeli partners.

QUESTION: Yeah, you have been saying that for a while – like, civilians needs to be protected. But I think millions of people around the world are waiting for a clear answer from the U.S. to that question, because you have been giving an unconditioned support to Israel. The question is: Does the U.S. support Israel’s such actions, but – or are you concerned by them?

MR PATEL: We believe that Israel has every right to defend itself and to defend its security. We believe that what transpired on October 7th is not something that any country in the world would be able to accept, and it is incredibly imperative that steps are taken to ensure that Hamas can’t carry out these kinds of attacks again.

Simultaneously, we believe that even though Hamas uses civilians as shield, even though Hamas has integrated its network of tunnels and its infrastructure amongst civilian infrastructure in Gaza, that Hamas has collocated itself in some of these key civilian areas like schools, hospitals, et cetera – in spite of all that, we continue to believe that it is incredibly important for Israel to distinguish between Hamas terrorists and Palestinian civilians. And we’ll continue to raise that directly and clearly with our Israeli partners. The Secretary will do that, and others in the administration will do that, and we’ll continue to engage in this diplomacy.

Diyar, go ahead.

QUESTION: Yeah. Thank you, Vedant, and welcome back. Today the Iraqi prime minister was in Iran and he met with the Iranian supreme leader, and the Iranian supreme leader said that the Iraqi Government should put more pressure on the U.S. forces and also to the U.S. to make them make some ceasefire in the war between Hamas and Israel. And we learned that yesterday, that Secretary Blinken urged Iraqi Government to hold those groups accountable for attacking the U.S. forces and protect the U.S. bases there.

But since then, six attacks has happened on the U.S. forces in Iraq, in Kurdistan region, and in Syria. Do you think that the Iraqi Government is not holding those groups accountable? Do they have the ability to hold those groups accountable?

MR PATEL: We believe that the – we believe that the Government of Iraq does have the ability to hold those groups accountable, and we believe that that work is ongoing. The Secretary, as you said, urged Prime Minister Sudani to do that and that it was incredibly important to continue holding these groups who have been targeting U.S. personnel in Iraq accountable. They also talked about a number of other issues, including the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas as well as steps that can be taken to ensure that this conflict does not spread into Iraq as well.

QUESTION: And one more follow-up. Why you didn’t announce the Secretary’s visit to Iraq? That – were you concerned about any incidents happen during his visit to Iraq? And even when he visited the Iraqi Green Zone, he was wearing a bulletproof vest.

MR PATEL: I’m just not going to get into the security parameters that go into planning and announcing the Secretary’s travel.

Sam, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you. President Lula of Brazil recently joined a growing list of world leaders condemning Israel not just simply for war crimes, not just simply for crimes against humanity, but for genocide. The late president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, Michael Ratner, during Israel’s 2014 assault on Gaza which killed 2,000 Palestinians, advocated that the Genocide Convention be invoked in that case against Israel, saying that legally, for genocide, quote, “You don’t need to kill all of them. You just need to have the mental intent to kill part of them.”

Craig Mokhiber, who just resigned as director of the New York office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, noted that intent, usually the hardest part of genocide to prove, isn’t in this case. He wrote in his resignation letter, quote, “Explicit statements of intent by leaders in the Israeli Government and military leave no room for doubt or debate.”

Finally, Francis Boyle, who successfully prosecuted – or who successfully represented Bosnia and Herzegovina in their genocide case against Yugoslavia before the International Court of Justice, has similarly argued that the Palestinians or any other signer to the Genocide Convention should immediately instigate a – initiate a emergency legal process invoking the convention at the International Court of Justice, yet no government has done so.

My question to you —

MR PATEL: Do you have a question soon?

QUESTION: My question to you is: Has the U.S. Government pressured or bribed or threatened in any way, shape, or form Abbas, the people around him, institutions around him, from invoking this or any other legal mechanisms against Israel to stop its attack?

MR PATEL: I don’t even know where to start there, Sam. No, the U.S. has not been involved in pressuring or anything like that to any officials within the Palestinian Authority. What I will just say again in the context of this conflict: We have been incredibly clear that as Israel defends itself and defends its security that it is imperative that it continues to make a distinction between Hamas terrorists and Palestinian civilians, and that’s something we’ll continue to raise directly with Israeli counterparts.

I will also note that we, within the U.S. Government, have a rigorous process for evaluating whether something constitutes genocide, and we have not made that assessment in this case. And it’s really important to remember that Hamas bears responsibility for sparking this war and they brought this tragic war to Gaza. They have compounded and perpetuated the suffering of the Palestinian people at every step of this crisis. And as I said, we continue to support Israel’s right to defend itself against these terrorist attacks by Hamas.

QUESTION: You claim – excuse me. You claim that you want Israel to make a distinction, but you don’t seem to be taking this – making the distinction.

MR PATEL: We absolutely make this distinction, Sam.

QUESTION: If I might – I didn’t interrupt you. I didn’t interrupt you. The Center for Constitutional Rights just put out a statement: “Legal Organizations Put Members of Congress on Notice [for] Complicity on Genocide.” Quote: “Please take [note]” – this is a letter that they sent to members of Congress. Center for Constitutional Rights: “Please take notice that should you vote in favor of that package,” the Biden package for Israel, “you risk facing criminal and civil [liabilities] for aiding and abetting genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity under international law, and may face investigation and prosecution.” Do members of the State Department face similar possibilities?

MR PATEL: Again, Sam, as I said, we have – the U.S. Government has a rigorous process in place for evaluating whether something constitutes genocide, and we have not made that assessment in this case.

QUESTION: But you continue to pretend —

MR PATEL: I’m going to – I’ve taken —

QUESTION: — that the bombing of hospital after hospital, bakery after bakery, university after university – and somehow you keep pretending that, oh, they’re just after military people of Hamas.

MR PATEL: I appreciate – I appreciate your questions, Sam. I’ve taken two of them. Now I’m going to work the room a little bit.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Vedant. Countrywide protests going on in Bangladesh. They’re demanding the resignation of the ruling prime minister, and the regime is in a sense declare war against the main opposition, BNP and protestors. Over 8,000 people have been detained, including BNP secretary general and all rank and file. At least 11 people killed since protests began on October 28. Ruling Prime Minister Hasina instructed her party members to throw opposition party members into fire or burn their hands. As the United States and the international community in Bangladesh are committed to creating a peaceful and credible environment for upcoming elections, for creating that environment, will you be with the people of Bangladesh and reflect their will under a new caretaker government?

MR PATEL: So it’s important to remember – and you’ve heard me say this a number of times before, including in answering your friend’s question – that the U.S. does not support any political party in Bangladesh. We don’t favor any one political party over the other. Right now our focus continues to be closely monitoring the electoral environment in Bangladesh leading up to January’s election, engaging appropriately with the government, with opposition leaders, with civil society and other stakeholders to urge them to work together for the benefit of the Bangladeshi people.

Go ahead. And I’ll come back to you, Shaun, after that. Then we’ll wrap.

QUESTION: Thank you. You just spoke in detail about the current Travel Advisory and the reasons, but we are witnessing a lot of hate and anger all around the world not only for Israel but also for United States of America, for the obvious reasons. But is it a concern?

MR PATEL: I’m sorry, is – for people traveling to the United States?

QUESTION: No, no, no. I’m asking there is – we are witnessing a lot of hate and anger —

MR PATEL: Ah.

QUESTION: — not only for Israel but also for United States because of the situation in Gaza. Is it a concern that there’s growing hate?

MR PATEL: What I will just say is that first and foremost, of course, we respect, encourage, and appreciate people’s ability to exercise their First Amendment rights for the – for the freedom of speech, the freedom to assemble, and things of that nature. We of course, though, take issue with any of those demonstrations turning violent that put people in harm’s way. And specifically as it relates to Travel Advisories to any of the countries that exist, we’ll continue to make adjustments and update our Travel Advisories as conditions in countries potentially change.

Shaun, go ahead.

QUESTION: Sir, election commission of Pakistan – one more question, please.

MR PATEL: Okay.

QUESTION: Election commission of Pakistan finally announced the date for the general elections. You always talked about the free and fair elections in Pakistan and all around the world. But many analysts in Pakistan have their doubts because these elections are happening without the most popular leader, former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Any thoughts about that?

MR PATEL: Again, don’t have an assessment on the makeup of candidates or the representation of any specific political party. That is for the people of Pakistan to decide. Our focus continues to be on ensuring and supporting that there are free and fair elections that are conducted in a way for the benefit of the Pakistani people.

Shaun, go ahead.

QUESTION: Can you say anything about U.S.-China nuclear talks, which I think China has already spoken about it publicly, but apparently was to happen in the building soon?

MR PATEL: Yeah, sure. Thanks for your question, Shaun. So this – I would view this as a little bit of a follow-on. When Director and Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in Washington, D.C., we talked a little bit about additional bilateral consultations that may take with the PRC in the days, weeks, months ahead. And these meetings are part of those ongoing efforts to maintain an open line of communication with the PRC on a full range of issues.

So assistant secretary for the Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence, and Stability^[1] Mallory Stewart and an interagency team from the U.S. Government is hosting PRC Director General Sun Xiaobo at the department today. We have continually called on the PRC to substantively engage on arms control issues and reducing strategic risk, and this engagement will continue efforts to responsibly manage the relationship and ensure competition does not veer into conflict.

And I – we’ll have more to share on the contents of that meeting once it’s concluded.

QUESTION: Could I just ask briefly —

MR PATEL: Yeah.

QUESTION: — does this relate at all to New START and the ideas of perhaps bringing China into New START?

MR PATEL: I would not go as – so far to necessarily to say that, but I think we’ll have more to share after the meeting has concluded.

QUESTION: And if I could just follow up on one other U.S.-China thing?

MR PATEL: Yeah, sure.

QUESTION: John Kerry meeting his counterpart, Xie, in Sunnylands. Can you just say whether the meeting’s still underway, and is there any assessment, again, that you can say about that?

MR PATEL: My understanding is that the meeting is still underway, and so I think we’ll have more to share at the conclusion of that. But Shaun, I would just again say that in the follow-on of Secretary Blinken’s trip to Beijing in June we spoke about how there would be continued exchanges at these various levels bilaterally between senior officials from our government and senior officials from the PRC. This is just another example of that, and we expect that to continue.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Hi, Vedant. Thank you. Could you speak a little more about what channels of cooperation you’d like U.S. and China to engage and talk more about?

MR PATEL: Well we have long said, and this is nothing new to anybody in this room, that there continue to be a number of areas in which we believe that there is opportunity for cooperation between the United States and the PRC. Examples that you’ve heard us talk about, to use Special Envoy Kerry for an example, is of course the climate arena. As two of the world’s largest emitters, it’s incredibly important that we cooperate with the PRC in order to address the climate crisis that’s facing the world. Another area you’ve heard many in this department talk about is addressing the fentanyl precursors and the role that fentanyl has played in our country. We believe that the PRC has a role that they can play there.

But beyond that, this kind of cooperation is what the international community expects from the United States and the PRC as two major powers.

QUESTION: One more, if I may?

MR PATEL: Okay, go ahead.

QUESTION: So Secretary Blinken will attend the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Japan the 7th and the 8th. What can you tell us about the expected statement on Israel and Gaza, particularly as Japan refrained from the initial G7 statement in support of Israel? And in particular, what role do you envision Japan playing?

MR PATEL: So I’m not going to get ahead of the Secretary’s trip. I know he will be there soon enough and will have lots to talk about with his foreign minister counterparts. I fully anticipate that the war between Israel and Hamas will be something that is talked about, but I’m just not going to get ahead of that.

And then – final question. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you. Secretary Blinken visited Cyprus, where he met with President Christodoulides? How do you see Cyprus’s proposal for delivering aid to Gaza through a maritime corridor?

And second question: 45 members of Congress in a letter to Secretary Blinken asking him to pressure Türkiye to cut ties with Hamas. Did the Secretary raise this – the Hamas issue during his meetings with Mr. Fidan?

MR PATEL: So we have been very clear to any country that it can no longer be business as usual with Hamas, and we have been – the Secretary has been clear about that in all of his engagements.

And on your first question, I’ve not seen that specific report, but we take our responsibility seriously about ensuring the access of humanitarian aid and make sure that that flow continues into Gaza. And so we’ll continue to work at that.

All right. Thanks, everybody.

(The briefing was concluded at 2:16 p.m.)

# # #

Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance ↑

Department Press Briefing – November 1, 2023

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Department Press Briefing – November 1, 2023

Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson

Washington, D.C.

November 1, 2023

Article Index

EGYPT/ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES/REGION
TÜRKIYE/RUSSIA/UKRAINE
ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES/REGION
IRAN/REGION
TURKEY/SWEDEN/NATO
IRAN/ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES/REGION
BANGLADESH
UKRAINE/RUSSIA
CHINA/REGION
DEPARTMENT
PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN
RUSSIA/UKRAINE/AFRICA
ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES

1:40 p.m. EDT

MR MILLER: Good afternoon. Sorry for being late. Nice scarf, Matt.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR MILLER: Let me start –

QUESTION: Not a Steelers scarf, I’ll note.

MR MILLER: Yes. For the record, Matt is wearing a Buffalo Sabres scarf. Correct?

QUESTION: Yes.

MR MILLER: As I informed Matt earlier in the day, being from Texas, I’m not a hockey expert. But I appreciate you wearing your colors in the briefing room.

Let me start with an update on the situation at Rafah. It has been a top priority for the United States to get Rafah open, not just for trucks coming in, but for U.S. citizens and other foreign nationals coming out. The President has been working on this; Secretary Blinken has been working on it; and of course our Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues David Satterfield has been on the ground negotiating the details.

As a result of these efforts, an initial group of foreign nationals, including U.S. citizens, departed Gaza through Rafah today, and we expect exits of U.S. citizens and foreign nationals to continue over the next several days. We want to make sure we can get U.S. citizens and their family members out as safely as possible. In the past 24 hours, we have informed U.S. citizens and family members with whom we are in contact that they will be assigned specific departure dates. We have asked them to continue to monitor their email regularly over the next 24 to 72 hours for specific instructions about how to exit. The U.S. embassy in Cairo is standing by to provide assistance to U.S. citizens as they enter Egypt.

The situation remains extremely fluid, but this has been an important breakthrough. And we will keep working on it to ensure that all of the U.S. citizens who wish to depart safely from Gaza can do so.

Turning to humanitarian assistance, as a result of our efforts to accelerate the delivery of international humanitarian aid, 59 trucks entered Gaza through the Rafah Crossing yesterday, representing the highest number of trucks in a single day to enter Gaza since the humanitarian corridor began on October 21st, and bringing the total number through yesterday to 217. Trucks continue to enter today, and we expect today’s number to surpass yesterday’s just as yesterday’s number surpassed the day before’s, as we continue to ramp up deliveries to Gaza.

Finally, turning to travel, Secretary Blinken will travel to Israel and Jordan on Friday. The Secretary will meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other leaders of the Israeli Government to receive an update on their military objectives and their plans for meeting those objectives. He will reiterate U.S. support for Israel’s right to defend itself in accordance with international humanitarian law, and discuss the need to take all precautions to minimize civilian casualties, as well as our work to deliver humanitarian assistance.

In his meetings in Jordan, the Secretary will also underscore the importance of protecting civilian lives, and our shared commitment to facilitating the increased sustained delivery of lifesaving humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza, the resumption of essential services, and ensuring that Palestinians are not forcibly displaced outside of Gaza. He will also reaffirm the U.S. commitment to working with partners to set the conditions for a durable and sustainable peace in the Middle East, to include the establishment of a Palestinian state that reflects the aspirations of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank – and in the West Bank. And of course he will continue to discuss the ongoing work to secure the release of all hostages.

We will provide further details about the trip over the coming days. And with that, Matt.

QUESTION: Yeah. So in terms of the number of Americans, I realize you’re hesitant to say. But, I mean, are we talking about a handful?

MR MILLER: So I am not going to discuss the number of Americans that were able to depart today, and I will not give rolling updates as this process unfolds over the next several days. I’ll say a couple things.

Number one, there are around 400 Americans in Gaza with whom we are in communication who have expressed a desire to leave. They have family members as well who have expressed a desire to leave. The total number is around a thousand people when you count both American citizens and their family members. We are going to give them specific instructions over the next few days about where to go, when to go, how they can get out. But for operational security reasons, which I think you can imagine, we’re not going to kind of put numbers on it as the next few days unfold. When we get to what might look like the end of this process, I’ll be happy to come back and talk in more detail.

QUESTION: All right. And when you say that they crossed Rafah, does that mean that they are safely – you have confirmed that they are safely in Egypt?

MR MILLER: Yes. There’s a number of Americans – there are a number of American citizens who have crossed through Rafah and are in Egypt today.

QUESTION: Can I follow up on Jordan?

MR MILLER: Yeah.

QUESTION: Also related to Jordan, Jordan just today announced that it’s withdrawing its ambassador from Israel. Could you – do you have any comment, first of all, directly on this, what it means for the Middle East? What do you think about the Jordanian decision and how this would affect, if at all, the Secretary’s travel and the Secretary’s interactions?

MR MILLER: So I saw the reports and the reason Jordan stated for withdrawing its ambassador. I would say that we share the concerns they expressed about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza; that’s why we’re actively leading the efforts to address that humanitarian situation, including those I just detailed to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza. But ultimately, we believe that increased diplomacy is important, and steps to reduce diplomatic channels aren’t productive to our long-term – our shared goals of promoting a long-term solution to this crisis.

QUESTION: Would you say you would like the Jordanians to reverse that, and is that something that’s —

MR MILLER: I don’t want to comment any – in any more detail than I just did.

Yeah.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matt. Is this a process that has an end date certain, or are you in ongoing discussions by your interlocutors with Hamas? Is this going to be extended to other groups beyond Americans, locally employed staff or other individuals?

MR MILLER: So I don’t want to put an end date on it. It is a process that’s ongoing. As I said, we expect it to proceed over the next several days. Our goal is to get American citizens out, their family members out; locally employed staff we also want to get out, the locally employed staff who want to depart. There are other foreign nationals of course, citizens of other countries in Europe and elsewhere around the world who of course those countries have been expressing interest in getting them out, and a number of them went out today. So it will take time to get all of those American citizens and other foreign nationals out, but we are working expeditiously to get them out as soon as possible.

QUESTION: And just to re-ask this question, what, if any, concessions is the U.S. making to Hamas in order to secure the release of these individuals?

MR MILLER: We are not making any concessions to them.

QUESTION: So what is Hamas getting in return for their – for their release?

MR MILLER: So you might have seen that there are wounded Palestinians who made it out through Rafah today. That was a step that we supported. We thought it was important that wounded Palestinians that needed medical care in this instance were – could leave and seek appropriate medical care. But ultimately, the United States is not in a position and has not provided any concessions at all to Hamas.

QUESTION: On the aid front, yesterday the Secretary testified briefly about the possibility of exploring Kerem Shalom in Israel as an additional pathway for aid. Is that actually something that is being considered in order to boost the amount of aid getting into Gaza?

MR MILLER: It is a possibility, but right now our focus continues to be on ramping up the amount of assistance that can go in through [Rafah]. And we have seen – we have seen increased assistance, as I outlined, over the last several days, and that’s because we have been working with the Government of Israel and the Government of Egypt to increase the ability to have the trucks that are entering Rafah be inspected as expeditiously as possible.

There are some kind of complicated logistical reasons that go into that, or logistical circumstances that go into that, as you might imagine. But we have been working to unstick those so you can get the number of trucks increased. The Secretary set a goal – said yesterday that we want to get to 100 trucks going in as soon as possible. You could potentially see more trucks going in than that. And we’re going to work to continue to do that. If we find that we can’t get in the amount of assistance through Rafah that is required, we will of course look at any other options.

QUESTION: One more question on the Secretary’s travels to Israel. What messages has the U.S. already conveyed to the Israelis about settler violence in the West Bank? Have we told the Israelis to stop sending arms to settlers there?

MR MILLER: We have made quite clear to the Government of Israel that we are very concerned about settler violence in the West Bank. We find it incredibly destabilizing. We find it counterproductive to Israel’s long-term security in addition to, of course, being extremely harmful to the Palestinians living in the West Bank. And we have sent a very clear message to them that it’s unacceptable, it needs to stop, and those responsible for it need to be held accountable.

QUESTION: And can I follow on to this?

MR MILLER: Let me – I’ll come to you in a minute, Said. Let me —

QUESTION: Yeah. Thanks, Matt. On the Rafah Crossing, who is administrating the exit from Gaza? Is it Hamas? Is there a third party who’s allowing —

MR MILLER: There is not a third party. I believe it is the authorities in Gaza that were existing running the crossing before October 7th.

QUESTION: So it’s kind of a return to the status quo for the border?

MR MILLER: I wouldn’t call it anything like – I wouldn’t call it a return to the status quo in that the process is very different. But ultimately, it’s the authorities that – with respect to the authorities that are administering the gate on the Gaza side and the Egyptian side, it is a return to how they were operating before October 7th.

QUESTION: And then when exactly did this deal actually get reached?

MR MILLER: That is a hard question to answer because it is something we have been working on continuously for a number of weeks. There have been a number of false starts along the way. There have been times when we thought we were going to be able to get American citizens out, and ultimately those efforts fell through. It’s been extremely complicated when you think of the number of partners we’re dealing with here.

But ultimately, we got to the point where we were able to feel confident that we’re – we could get American citizens out really in the past 24 hours. I will tell you I came out yesterday to the briefing and talked a little bit about what we – about what we expected to happen without being able to give any details, and it was just in the last hour before I came out that I really felt comfortable even saying that.

QUESTION: And then you said the U.S. supported allowing injured Palestinians to leave via Rafah. Was —

MR MILLER: Well, it’s not that the U.S. is. We don’t have any – we don’t —

QUESTION: No, but you said you supported that.

MR MILLER: Support. Yeah, correct.

QUESTION: Did a party oppose that move?

MR MILLER: Not that I’m aware of, no.

QUESTION: Can I follow-up?

MR MILLER: Go ahead. Said, I’ll come. Go.

QUESTION: Matt, I have a couple of things. On the Secretary’s travel to Israel, can you say what is his primary objective? And one thing specifically: As the civilian death toll rises, is the United States going to push Israel more to show restraint?

MR MILLER: So his primary objectives are as I outlined them in my opening comments. He wants to get an update from Israel on their military objectives and their plans for meeting those objectives. He wants to talk about ways that we can increase the flow of humanitarian assistance and get to the point where it’s a sustained, continuous flow getting in every day that meets the needs of innocent civilians in Gaza. He wants to talk about preventing the conflict from spreading. He wants to talk about the ability to get hostages back. And as I said, he will talk directly with the Israeli Government, as he has previously, as the President has previously, about our expectation that in launching – in conducting this military campaign, that they do it – do so in full compliance with international humanitarian law and the laws of war, and we will be very direct about that.

QUESTION: There’s been back and forth in this briefing room about this, but given there was the big attack yesterday on the refugee camp, I have to ask again: What is the U.S. assessment so far in terms of whether Israel is following the rules of war?

MR MILLER: Again, I will say that I’m not able to offer an assessment on that strike as I’m not able to offer assessment on other individual strikes. What I will say is that we will continue to discuss with them directly, as we will say publicly, that it is our expectation that in all of their activities, all of their military campaigns, that they comply with the laws of war.

QUESTION: I mean, in terms of yesterday’s attack, there are various commentators – some countries, international human rights lawyers – some of them are calling it war crimes. And we know that in this building when you are making these kinds of legal determinations, there is a process for that. Has there been any thinking of starting such a process for Israel’s actions in this war?

MR MILLER: It is not an assessment that we are making now. No.

QUESTION: Thank you. Actually, a follow-up on both Olivia and Humeyra. On Humeyra’s first, I mean, this area was struck today again. Now, why won’t you condemn the killing of dozens of civilians, like 300 – maybe less, we don’t know – to kill one person? Because that’s what the Israeli spokesman said. She said, we went after one militant. Why won’t you do that?

MR MILLER: So I will say that we are deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life. Whatever the number of lost civilians in this strike or any other strike, we are obviously troubled and deeply saddened by every one – every loss of life. And that’s true whether it be Palestinians, whether it be Israelis, and we will continue to make that clear. And we’ll make it clear to the Israeli Government.

QUESTION: Right. Well, that – okay, but 21 years ago – 21 years ago – Eric Fleischer came out and condemned a similar act – the George W. Bush administration condemned an act at the time where Israel killed one Hamas leader, Salah Shehadeh, and killed 15 others, which is a lot less than what you have seen in the last couple days – and they condemned it very strongly. So why won’t your administration do the same thing?

MR MILLER: So I am not able to speak to whatever assessments an administration 20 years ago has made. I will say that we will continue to impress directly upon our Israeli counterparts the need to minimize civilian harm in all of their military activities.

QUESTION: All right. A follow-up on Olivia, on the – what the Secretary said yesterday about they’re looking beyond what comes next after Hamas is completely destroyed and so on – what kind of system you would have in place in Gaza. And he suggested that you are in talks with a group of governments. Would that include all of the Arab governments? Would that include Israel and Saudi Arabia or Egypt and Jordan? Who did that include?

MR MILLER: So I don’t want to get into any details. As the Secretary said, we have begun to have initial conversations about it. I do want to make one thing clear, which is the future of Palestinian leadership is ultimately a question for the Palestinian people. We have been thinking through and discussing with our partners in the region different post-conflict scenarios, but I’m not able to get into any of those sort of details at this point.

QUESTION: So let me just – my last question on the internet – the internet and communications have been cut again. Do you have any comment on that, because you – you urged the Israelis last weekend to have connectivity again. So are you urging them today to do the same thing?

MR MILLER: They – the internet was cut. It was restored. I will say that we have made clear that we think internet access is important. I just started this briefing by noting that we are going to send e-mails to American citizens —

QUESTION: Right.

MR MILLER: — about how to get out of Gaza. We think it’s important, obviously, that they be able to have access to those emails. So at times, Israel may need to take operational steps that they have judged they need to take, but I will say as a general principle, it is the position of the U.S. Government that internet access needs to remain viable for the people of Gaza.

QUESTION: Can I just follow up on Humeyra’s question earlier when she asked you about whether there was any discussion in the legal – in L, the legal bureau, about what Israel is doing and whether it’s – and whether it complies with the rules of war? And you said no. So I’m just wondering, why not?

MR MILLER: It’s not an assessment that we have made at this point. You saw the Secretary – you – let me say —

QUESTION: I know, but she didn’t ask if you had made an assessment. She asked if it was being discussed and considered, that there were people looking at this —

MR MILLER: Let me say that —

QUESTION: — to make – and to eventually make a determination. And it’s now been – we’re three weeks in, basically – into this. You have made similar determinations roughly in that space of time. So I’m just wondering – you’re saying that that’s not even being discussed?

MR MILLER: No, let me —

QUESTION: Oh, okay.

MR MILLER: Let me be clear. I’m not going to get into internal discussions, internal deliberations at the State Department. I’ll speak to the assessments that we have made. We have not made an assessment —

QUESTION: But, yeah, that wasn’t —

MR MILLER: — of war crimes in this situation.

QUESTION: But you answered no to whether —

MR MILLER: I should have been clear. We have not – we have not made any type of assessment at this time.

QUESTION: Well —

MR MILLER: As the Secretary made clear, there will be an opportunity for that. We’re not in the position at this point to judge all the strikes. What we think is important is to continue to impress upon the Israeli Government the importance of minimizing civilian harm.

QUESTION: Yeah, but you guys have made a determination – and we have had this discussion with Simon the other day – about Russia and actually committing war crimes where you’ve made a legal determination. In this case, you’re not even willing to say that that’s something that’s being talked about?

MR MILLER: I will say in the case of Russia, we were able to assess with a very high degree of confidence that Russia was deliberately targeting civilians. You – I remember that it came after —

QUESTION: Yes, but in order to get to that determination —

MR MILLER: — that assessment came after Bucha when there were clear evidence —

QUESTION: Yes, exactly. But in order —

MR MILLER: — clear evidence of deliberate, deliberate killing and targeting of civilians.

QUESTION: But in order to get to that determination, it had to be considered by the lawyers.

MR MILLER: And I’ve just —

QUESTION: And what your response to Humeyra was, unless you’re saying it was now wrong or that you misspoke —

MR MILLER: I just – I’ve —

QUESTION: — that – was that it’s not even being discussed. It’s not – you’re not – people are not even looking at whether this question –

MR MILLER: And I’ve just —

QUESTION: And what your response to Humeyra was, unless you’re saying it was now wrong or that you misspoke —

MR MILLER: I just – I’ve —

QUESTION: — that – was that it’s not even being discussed. It’s not – you’re not – people are not even looking at whether this question —

MR MILLER: What I’m saying is I’m not going to get into internal discussions, internal deliberations. It is not an assessment that we have made. And as the Secretary has said, there will be time to make those judgments.

Said, were you – I think you got – were you done or —

QUESTION: I’m done. Thank you.

MR MILLER: Okay. See a minute ago, you were interrupting me. Now, I come back for more, and you’re not – go ahead, Michel.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Do you have any response to the Houthis’ missiles after they joined the war?

MR MILLER: Nothing further than what I said yesterday, which is that as the Secretary – or as the President has made clear, as the Secretary has made clear, anyone that’s considering joining this conflict in opposition to Israel should think again.

QUESTION: But they already joined and fired missiles towards Israel.

MR MILLER: I – I recognize their statement, and I don’t have any further comment to add.

QUESTION: Will there be any American reaction?

MR MILLER: Again, I’m not going to – I never want to preview actions that we might take. I’ll make statements, and leave it at that. And of course, the Government of Israel might have something to say about that as well. I would defer to them.

QUESTION: Matt?

MR MILLER: Alex, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thanks, Matt. A couple questions on the trip. As I understand, there are some expectations in Türkiye that the Secretary might extend his trip and stop by this time around. How realistic are those?

MR MILLER: I saw reporters in this room tweeting that we might be going to Türkiye. I can say that we have not confirmed a visit – sorry, I didn’t mean – I don’t – I wasn’t going to say – you raised your hand; I didn’t – I wasn’t meaning to single – I wasn’t meaning to single you out. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Just – just for the transcript, my tweet is not based on my opinion —

MR MILLER: I – fair. Fair.

QUESTION: It’s based on official diplomatic sources who are saying —

MR MILLER: Fair, fair. Correct.

QUESTION: — Secretary Blinken is going to Türkiye.

MR MILLER: Correct. Correct.

QUESTION: So you can – would you like to respond to that?

MR MILLER: I – I am sorry; I should not have singled you out. It wasn’t my intention. I am not able to confirm any additional travel at this point other than that I – that I announced at the top. We will make further announcements as they’re available in the coming days.

QUESTION: As you know, Counselor Derek – Derek is headed to Türkiye. Is there any relationship?

MR MILLER: I – just – I – just someone was speaking over you, so you need to start again.

QUESTION: Any connection between Derek’s trip and –

MR MILLER: I’m sorry?

QUESTION: Derek is headed to Türkiye, the counselor, to prepare Secretary’s regional trip. Any connection between those two?

MR MILLER: I just don’t – I’m not going to make any announcements or speculation about travel before I’m –

QUESTION: On Ukraine, if I may. The Secretary yesterday spoke with his Ukrainian colleague following the congressional hearing. Is there any concern on your end that Ukraine might become a victim of domestic politics?

MR MILLER: We believe that if support – first of all, I’d say we believe that support for Ukraine continues to be essential. It continues to be important that the United States be there to help Ukraine defend itself against these horrific attacks that Russia has launched on them and continues to launch on them. And we believe, as a practical matter, that should funding for Ukraine get an up or down vote, it will pass in both houses of Congress. So I understand the kind of churn that has accompanied this, but it continues to be our position that funding is important, it should pass, and that as a practical matter if it gets a vote, it will pass.

QUESTION: As you know, Ukraine has seen more attacks during the past 24 hours than since the beginning of the war – 100 attacks to village and towns. Do you think Moscow is under impression that other conflicts are diverting attention in the West and that it has leeway to —

MR MILLER: I don’t know what – I won’t speak to what impression Moscow might be getting, but I can assure you that we are not. We have not lost focus in any sense on our need to support Ukraine. That’s why you’ve seen the President give an Oval Office address about our support for Ukraine, and we will continue to stay focused on it. We think we have the ability to work on more than one thing. You hear the Secretary often say, we have to walk and chew gum at the same time, and that is true with respect to both of these issues.

QUESTION: Thank you. I have two more (inaudible).

QUESTION: Follow-up on Ukraine?

QUESTION: Who is compiling the list of evacuees at Rafah gate? And what is the criteria for determining which injuries are eligible for treatment in Egypt?

MR MILLER: So that is one of the details, because of the kind of sensitive and delicate nature of this, I’m just not able to get into. All of this has been, as I said, an extremely complicated process when you think of all the parties that are involved. And I continue to find it not productive to kind of speak to the underlying details from here.

QUESTION: And then given that both Egypt and Israel have expressed security concerns and no third party is doing the monitoring, how have those concerns been addressed as part of this process?

MR MILLER: Security concerns, you mean, with the number of people coming through? I will – what I will say about it is we have worked with the Government of Egypt and the Government of Israel to attempt to ensure an orderly flow through the Rafah Crossing. I will let Egypt speak to ultimately if their concerns were assuaged, but obviously they have agreed to this transit of people throughout. And in fact, they agreed to the transit of people through Rafah some number of weeks ago, and it’s taken this long to actually make it a reality.

So I won’t get into the details other than to say that we feel confident that we’ve been able to establish a system that can get an orderly – the orderly flow of U.S. citizens and other foreign nationals. But as with all things related to this situation, we’ll repeat the caution I started with, that this remains to be a very fluid situation and we’ll continue to work on it and not rest until we have gotten all of our people out.

QUESTION: And then just finally, do you have assurances that all of the 400 or so Americans and all of their family members will be able to leave?

MR MILLER: Again, for some of the operational security reasons I outlined at the beginning of the briefing, I just don’t want to get into those details.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matt. What do you expect from Hassan Nasrallah’s speech on Friday, secretary general of Hizballah, his first appearance since the war started? Some speculation says that it might change the course of this war or maybe it will turn to full – full large-scale war. What do you expect from his speech?

MR MILLER: I would not want to speculate what he might say in advance.

QUESTION: Are you – there is any fear or worry that —

MR MILLER: Again, I – we will – I’m sure we will be monitoring what he has to say. We will not be speculating. As I said with respect to the Houthis, the President has made very clear that any entity hostile to Israel thinking of entering in this conflict should think again.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: The President and the Secretary have made a point lately of saying that there should be a path to a two-state solution. I noticed you had a bit of a revised version of that, that you would work for the establishment of a Palestinian state that reflects the aspirations in Gaza and the West Bank. So given that the Israeli Government – it’s against the Israeli Government policy to talk about or contemplate a two-state solution, given that most – many Palestinians think it’s not possible anyway because the settlers have – settler activity means it’s no longer viable, what is the purpose now of, like, flagging a two-state solution?

MR MILLER: The purpose is that we believe it is ultimately the only solution that will provide durable, lasting peace. And I will add it has been our policy since the beginning of the administration, and it has been something that we have pushed with the leadership of the Israeli Government, with the leadership of the Palestinian Authority, made – something that we have made clear we continue to support, and we will reiterate it – we will reiterate it on this trip. When people talk about the end of this conflict and what different options are for post-conflict scenarios, I think it’s important and the Secretary believes it’s important that we lay out kind of our first principles here. And one of our important first principles is the establishment of a two-state solution.

QUESTION: And given that there’s something – something has to happen, obviously, in terms of the governance of Gaza when and if and after all of this is over, do you think that the Israeli Government is more open now to talking about this?

MR MILLER: So I, again, don’t want to get ahead of – I don’t want to get ahead of conversations that still need to take place. I will say we have made very clear that two things are true. Number one, Hamas cannot continue to govern and administer Gaza and use it as a launching pad for terrorist attacks against Israel. Number two, Gaza cannot be occupied by Israel. And so what the alternative is between those two poles is a matter that we will discuss here inside the United States Government, a matter we will discuss with the Palestinian people and Palestinian leadership, and a matter we will discuss with partners in the region.

QUESTION: On this?

MR MILLER: Yeah, go ahead.

QUESTION: Yes. Matt, I will follow up on this. The Secretary when I – when he was asked yesterday in – on the Hill about this, he said we are discussing temporary measures that involve Arab countries and international agencies. What did he mean by that?

MR MILLER: He meant exactly that.

QUESTION: I mean —

MR MILLER: If you mean will I provide you any more details, no. We will continue to have these discussions – we will keep them private – with our partners and with international agencies, but I’m not going to provide any further details.

QUESTION: Okay. And my second question is on the U.S. citizens and the foreign nationals who departed Gaza today. Yesterday also the Secretary has said that Hamas is impeding the departures of the American citizen, and you said you didn’t make any concessions. Why did they change their mind? Pressure, leverage from other countries?

MR MILLER: So I will say a few things. Number one, that is correct. Hamas was impeding the departure of American citizens and other foreign nationals. We’ve talked before about how at times they had no one there at Rafah gate to process individuals who were attempting to leave. At other times they were actively preventing them from approaching the gate. And they have now agreed to no longer stand in the way.

So without getting into the details of how this might have come about, I will just note for the record that the Secretary discussed this matter with the prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar on Monday. We’ve discussed it with other leaders in the region. We’ve made clear that anyone in the region who can help bring any influence to bear with Hamas, that they do so. And we are appreciative for the – to the – we are appreciative to the work the Government of Qatar has done as they have done with securing the release of hostages and with attempting to secure the release of additional hostages, and I think I’ll leave it at that.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR MILLER: Matthew?

QUESTION: Shannon, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you. On Americans leaving Rafah, can you say a little more clearly what’s the rate-limiting step on the pace of departures? Is it Hamas determining how many or is it a security consideration?

MR MILLER: I don’t – because of the security – the operational security concerns I said at the beginning, I just don’t think it’s useful for me to get into any of these details. What I will say is that if there’s any American citizen in Gaza who has not yet registered with the State Department and they want to leave, they should register with the State Department as soon as possible. Those American citizens in Gaza who have already registered with the State Department, they should watch their email and we will get them a time and specific instructions for how to leave. But as – but as it pertains to the number and when, for a number of reasons I don’t think it’s helpful for me to talk about that publicly. I’d be happy to do so at the end of the process, but while it’s ongoing I think it would be counterproductive.

QUESTION: And on the family members, President Biden tweeted that he expected to see American citizens leave in the coming days. And of course, you said you’re still working on the immediate family members, some 600. But is there an expectation that they’ll be allowed to depart at the same pace, or is that on different tracks?

MR MILLER: Again, we are working to have all of these things happen together, to have American citizens and their family members move. It is always our policy to try and keep families together, and that’s what we’re trying to make happen.

QUESTION: Follow-up?

QUESTION: Matthew, can I —

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Matt, thank you. Thank you, Matt. What entity oversees humanitarian aid to Gaza and the UN agency UNWRA, which is controlled by Hamas? And I have a follow-up.

MR MILLER: So I would reject that interpretation of UNRWA. It is a United Nations agency that provides humanitarian assistance to the – to innocent civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.

QUESTION: Okay. The follow-up is: When the U.S. sends the funds to the UN agency UNRWA, who oversees the donations to make sure that the funds are not used for guns and munitions?

MR MILLER: So we have strict monitoring programs in place for all of our humanitarian assistance and all the assistance we provide. We look into this regularly, we inspect, we audit – we do everything possible to ensure that there is no diversion of funds or any of the humanitarian assistance that we provide to UNRWA or any of the other agencies and international relief organizations that are working in the area.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matt. The foreign minister of Iran, having next to him the foreign minister of your ally Türkiye, said that today, if an immediate ceasefire doesn’t take place in Gaza and the rabid attacks by U.S. – he says by U.S. – Zionist regime continue, then the consequences will be harsh. I want your comment.

MR MILLER: So we have made very clear that we do not seek conflict with Iran. We do not want to see this conflict widened in any ways – in any way. But as the Secretary has made clear, we will defend U.S. interests and U.S. personnel in the region. We have already taken steps to do so, and as the Secretary of Defense made clear on the Hill yesterday, if we need to take additional steps, we will do so at the time and place of our choosing.

QUESTION: Also I had a question – I see that the head of the foreign affairs committee of Türkiye, he said, according to the Reuters, that Türkiye was in no hurry, even U.S. and NATO want a speedy vote by Türkiye’s parliament, for the accession of Sweden. I mean, you said yesterday that you want —

MR MILLER: So I haven’t —

QUESTION: You want ratification as soon as possible, and he answered to you, I’m sure.

MR MILLER: So I haven’t seen – yeah, let me just – I haven’t seen those specific comments, and I’m going to stick with my typical practice of not reacting to comments unless I’ve seen the place and the context in which they were delivered. But I will say that we have made quite clear that we want to see Sweden’s accession into NATO as soon as possible. We’ve had – the Secretary has had a number of conversations with his counterpart, the foreign minister, about that exact thing, and we will continue to work to make it happen.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matt. I’m going back to the – what Iranian foreign minister said. He said that if the wars goes out of the control, then the U.S. will be responsible for what will happen the next. And also he said that there will be another surprise move by the resistance. Do you take any responsibility for that, if the wars gets out of the control?

MR MILLER: No. I will just say we have made clear in our public and our private messaging to Iran that it should not escalate or widen this conflict or take advantage of the current situation. We have said, as I just reiterated a moment ago, that if our troops are attacked, we would respond. We did just that, and if we are attacked again, we’ll respond again, and I’ll leave it there.

QUESTION: And another question. Today, Harakat al-Nujaba – it’s an Iranian-backed group in Iraq – they have 10,000 fighters. They announced a war against the U.S. forces in Iraq, and the leader of that group said that no pause, no truce, and no retreat, we’re going to fight the U.S. Do you think they are not taking your signal or your warning seriously because they don’t see any action from the U.S. —

MR MILLER: I don’t think anyone should doubt our commitment to defending our forces.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you so much. Matt, I have two question. I’ll be very impactful. First, the 28th of October, Bangladesh Nationalist Party leadership, they bring American citizen to their office named Mian Arefi, claiming him to be the advisor of President Biden, and he also claim on camera that daily he has 10 to 20 times text messaging prime – yeah, President Biden, but U.S. Embassy in Bangladesh disowned this claim of Mr. Arefi. My question – first question – is that the fraudulent activities by BNP leaders defame image of U.S. Government. Are you going to take any actions against Mr. Arefi and related people of BNP leadership?

MR MILLER: I do not have any comment on this individual’s actions other than to reiterate what the U.S. embassy says, which is he does not represent the United States Government.

QUESTION: And my second question about that right now in Bangladesh, that international train between Bangladesh and India was attacked by the violent BNP – violent activist, and Bangladeshi prime minister, whose government has tremendous success in overall development in Bangladesh and zero tolerance in extremist organization, fights against terrorism in Southeast Asia with close cooperation with United States, and they are reassuring a free and fair election. Will U.S. send any election observer there and assist Sheikh Hasina to conduct a free and fair election? Will you call BNP, that Bangladesh Nationalist Party, to stop violence and participate to the upcoming general election? Thank you so much.

MR MILLER: So again, as I said yesterday and as I said the day before and have said a number of times, the holding of free and fair elections is the responsibility of everyone: all political parties, voters, the government, security forces, civil society. The United States wants what the Bangladeshi people want for themselves: free, fair elections conducted in a peaceful manner.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Matthew, good afternoon.

MR MILLER: Yeah.

QUESTION: Two questions for you. One, in the Middle East, Sam Brownback, a former U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, told us the other day – my organization – that if you want peace in the Middle East, the Iranian regime that’s in power now has to go. He says you will not have peace in the Middle East as long as this regime – his words – in Tehran, the ruling mullahs, are in power. Does the State Department agree with that assessment?

MR MILLER: I’m not going to offer responses to individual private citizens.

QUESTION: Okay, two, to Ukraine now, please. Thank you. There are 5 million Catholics in Ukraine, and church leaders – Catholic Church leaders warn right now that if Russia wins this war, succeeds in its invasion, the Catholic Church there could be wiped out, eliminated, or be forced to go underground, just as in the old Soviet Union days. How does the State Department address those concerns?

MR MILLER: Well, one of the – the way we would address those concerns, I’d say, would be to continue to support sustained U.S. military assistance and economic assistance to the Government of Ukraine. It’s been – the United States has provided more security assistance to Ukraine than any other country in the world, and I would say that anyone that is – anyone that is concerned about Russia’s potential aggression in Ukraine should join us in urging Congress to pass our increased security assistance package as soon as possible.

QUESTION: Matt, thank you. Just going to China, Secretary Blinken has just met with Wang Yi, and he has – and you said to me a couple months ago that all human rights issues will be mentioned, including that of the Southern Mongolians or – where 95 percent of the rare minerals come from, the region what they’re living in. We haven’t seen any discussions on the rights of the Mongolians when discussions on Tibetans, Uyghurs, and the Hong Kong people were discussed. And in the future meetings, at the very least, is the State Department going to address the rights of Mongolians and also of those underground Catholics and Protestants and the Falun Gong practitioners?

My second question to you is the other – the other part that was – seemed to be ignored was the – our presence in the Indo-Pacific. There is a degradation of democracy in places like Solomon Islands ever since they switched recognition from Taipei to Beijing. And so is the State Department going to address that portion given the fact that the erosion of democracy also involves a – an ousting of a former governor for speaking out against the “one China” policy.

MR MILLER: So with respect to the first question, I can assure you that the – that the Secretary raised human rights issues robustly in his meeting with secretary – I’m sorry, with secretary – with Director Wang Yi. He has raised human rights issues in all of his meetings with Chinese Government counterparts, and we will continue to raise a full range of human rights issues in our meetings with the PRC.

With respect to the second issue, we of course continue to support the flourishment of democracy in the Indo-Pacific, as everywhere in the world. You’ve seen the Secretary travel a number of times to the Indo-Pacific, including a number of islands in the Indo-Pacific, to make that very case, and we’ll continue to do that.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Hi, Matt. Two questions, please. The first one: Do you have a comment on President Biden’s announcement of his intent to nominate Kurt Campbell to deputy secretary?

MR MILLER: So the President did make that announcement this morning. You may have seen that Secretary Blinken sent a message out to the workforce today welcoming that announcement. The only comment I will make, of course, that Congress has a job to do here in properly considering and confirming our nominees, and we hope that we’ll – they’ll do so as expeditiously as possible.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matt.

QUESTION: Also —

MR MILLER: Oh, sorry.

QUESTION: — as a follow-up, Secretary Blinken is expected to attend the G7 foreign ministers’ summit in Japan next week. What can you tell us about expected topics of conversation, particularly as Japan refrained from the initial G7 statement in support of Israel?

MR MILLER: So we have not yet announced further travel beyond Friday, when he will visit Israel and Jordan, but expect us to make further announcements in the next few days. And I’ll be happy to talk about those questions once we’ve made those announcements.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matt. Pakistan’s deadline for undocumented Afghan refugee to return to Afghanistan has passed, and now thousands Afghans going back to Afghanistan. But there are around 60,000 refugees that they left Afghanistan because of Taliban’s threats and persecution. What’s your comment about that? And also, would be – would you be able to elaborate on Thomas West meeting with some European representatives in Italy?

MR MILLER: So we join all of our partners in urging every state, including Pakistan, to uphold their respective obligations in their treatment of refugees and asylum [seekers], and to respect the principle of non-refoulement. We strongly encourage Afghanistan’s neighbors, including Pakistan, to allow entry for Afghans seeking international protection and to coordinate with international humanitarian organizations to provide humanitarian assistance. And with respect to Tom West’s recent meetings, I’d refer you to his office for specific comment.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR MILLER: Alex, go ahead, and then I – then Humeyra, and then we’ll wrap.

QUESTION: Thanks, Matt. Do you have any update for us on the case of Radio Free – Radio Free Europe’s reporter Kurmasheva?

MR MILLER: I don’t. We continue to be in contact with her attorneys. We continue to be in contact with Radio Free Europe. We have not yet received formal notification of her arrest from the Russian Government, though obviously we are aware that it has happened. And that’s why we’ve – we continue to seek consular access to her, and that also has not been granted. We would urge the Russian Government to provide it as soon as possible.

QUESTION: Yesterday Russian court rejected her appeal to release pretrial detentions. Any reaction?

MR MILLER: I don’t have any comment on that. We are – our focus is at this point securing consular assistance as we seek more information about the case.

Humeyra, go ahead.

QUESTION: And final – and final question, if I may.

MR MILLER: Yeah. Sorry.

QUESTION: I apologize. On Wagner —

MR MILLER: Careful, like I – I singled Humeyra out and got the – a much deserved smackdown earlier in the briefing. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR MILLER: So —

QUESTION: Reports that Wagner Group restarted recruiting. Any concern on your end? Any – anything you have heard about?

MR MILLER: Sure, we always have concerns about Wagner Group’s activities, whether they be in Ukraine or whether they be anywhere in Africa, which is why we’ve taken a number of actions to hold them accountable over the past.

Humeyra, go ahead.

QUESTION: Matt, just to close the loop on a previous line of questioning and also Matt’s line of questioning as well, is it fair to say that there are no active – there is no active process in this building to make a legal determination about Israel’s attacks and strikes in —

MR MILLER: I just never want to talk about internal deliberations. I will just say what I said before, which is the Secretary said there will be time to make those assessments and those are not judgments that we have made at this point.

QUESTION: Right. But – I mean, I’m just asking about the intent or the plan, because Secretary did say there will be a time for that. I’m just wondering if that time is nearing or —

MR MILLER: I just don’t – I don’t have any further information on that.

QUESTION: Okay.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR MILLER: Go ahead, go ahead. Go ahead.

QUESTION: I had just —

MR MILLER: Oh, sorry. Sorry.

QUESTION: Yeah, one more thing on the hostages. Since the sort of bombardment intensified, there seems to be a bit of a stall in those negotiations. I mean, is that a fair characterization? What is the latest in (inaudible)?

MR MILLER: I really don’t want to characterize those discussions one way or the other. That’s been a rule I’ve applied to myself since October 7th, and it’s – you’ve seen the Secretary say the same thing when he’s been out in front of the public. We continue to actively pursue their release, and I mean actively. It’s something that people are working on in this building around the clock. We continue to discuss it with our partners in the region, but I never want to characterize the status or tenor of those discussions. It’s just not productive to the release the hostages.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR MILLER: Let me – go ahead, and we’ll – and then we’ll wrap up.

QUESTION: I just had quick personnel question, which is now that he’s been confirmed, when is Jack Lew expected to take up his post in Israel?

MR MILLER: So we’re still working out some final details, but my expectation is that he will travel with us to the region when we leave Thursday and arrive Friday.

QUESTION: Just one question here, sir.

MR MILLER: With that, we’ll – and with that, we’ll wrap for today. Thanks, everyone. Thank you.

(The briefing was concluded at 2:22 p.m.)

Department Press Briefing – October 31, 2023

HomeDepartment Press Briefing – October 31, 2023

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Department Press Briefing – October 31, 2023

Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson

Washington, D.C.

October 31, 2023

Article Index

ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES/REGION

DEPARTMENT

ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES/REGION

ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES/UKRAINE/RUSSIA/MIDDLE EAST

BANGLADESH

BURMA

DEPARTMENT/UKRAINE/ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES

BANGLADESH

NATO/SWEDEN

AZERBAIJAN

ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES

DEPARTMENT/UKRAINE/ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES/REGION

VENEZUELA

2:08 p.m. EDT

MR MILLER: I don’t have a pen today. I don’t know what I’m going to fidget with while I’m up here.

Matt, you want to – thank you, Tracy. I appreciate the kind offer.

QUESTION: You have nothing?

MR MILLER: I have no opening remarks, I have no pen to keep my hands busy. I’ll just – I’ll —

QUESTION: You have nothing to start with after the Secretary was on the Hill this morning and —

MR MILLER: You can – I commend all of his remarks to you.

QUESTION: Oh. Okay. (Laughter.) Well, that’s very bold of you. You’re saying you agree with everything your boss says in its entirety.

MR MILLER: You will be surprised to know that yes, I do.

QUESTION: Okay. So can you just give us, if there is any update, an update on both the situation with the aid trucks and with trying to get people out of Rafah?

MR MILLER: Let me start with the aid trucks. So as I mentioned, around 45 went in yesterday. We think it was actually at least 45 – might have been a few more than that that made it through – for a total as of yesterday of at least 175 trucks that moved through Rafah Crossing by end of day yesterday. Another 59 have moved today.

QUESTION: Sorry, that’s since when?

MR MILLER: That was since they reopened, which I think was the 21st, since Rafah reopened. Another 59 have gone through today, which of course means more went through today than went through yesterday. We are continuing to try to increase the number that make it through Rafah every day so we have sustained deliveries of humanitarian assistance to the innocent civilians in Gaza, with – and are trying, as the Secretary said on the Hill today, to get up to a hundred trucks a day.

QUESTION: Okay. But in terms of people coming out of – it’s like one-way traffic going in, right? It’s – you still haven’t gotten any – none of the American citizens that are – that you’re aware of have been able to get out through Rafah?

MR MILLER: They have not been able to get out as of yet. I will say that we are making very good progress on this issue. You may see – have seen some reports that have moved from the region just in the last few hours about the possibility of Rafah gate opening tomorrow. We have been intensely focused on this. As you know, the Secretary called the prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar yesterday to talk to him about impressing upon Hamas the need to make this happen. Ambassador Satterfield has been intensely engaged on the question. The President, of course, has been involved in it as well.

I’m not in the position to make any announcements as I stand here right now, but I would say that we would welcome any agreement that would permit the safe exit of American citizens, families, other foreign nationals. It’s our understanding that should we get there, it’s not a process that would incur – would occur instantly. People would move out over several days. So while I can’t get into any further details at this point, I would say that all of the American citizens who are in Gaza should continue to register with the State Department and look out for any announcements from us, and as soon as we have any actual information, we will make it available to them.

QUESTION: Are you – 10 days ago when we were out in the region, we were hearing the same thing. “Oh, yes, it’ll be open; the Egyptians are waiting for them.” And then it never happened. Are you more confident today than you were back then?

MR MILLER: I – with all of these things, I want to wait and see it actually happening. I – as I said, there are reports that Rafah gate will open tomorrow.

QUESTION: Right, but there were reports that it —

MR MILLER: I’m not – and – but – I know. That’s – I’m not in a position to confirm those reports as of yet. I will say that we are intensely focused on getting the gate open, not just for one-way traffic of trucks coming in but for American citizens and other foreign nationals coming. Can’t make any announcements today, but we have made good progress on this even in the past few hours and hope to keep making progress to get those American citizens out.

QUESTION: Okay. Last one: Yesterday, I gave you a little bit of grief about the amount of humanitarian aid that you had pledged for Gaza, being 100 million at the time. There is more that the Secretary testified, Secretary Austin also testified to this morning. Can you be a little bit more explicit about how much you’re asking for from Congress for Gaza specifically?

MR MILLER: I can’t say Gaza specifically. What I can speak to is the request that we made in the supplemental package that the President requested, which is for a total of $9.2 billion in additional humanitarian assistance. Of that 9.2 billion, 5.7 billion is for USAID, and it would go to affect – it would go to fund USAID assistance programs in Ukraine and other areas affected by the war in Ukraine and Gaza. I can’t break down the 5.7 billion.

QUESTION: Why – okay, why not?

MR MILLER: Because we haven’t – because the money hasn’t been allocated yet. It has to be funded, then it has to be allocated, and USAID would make those decisions based on needs on the ground when we get there. But I can tell you that there’s a $5.7 billion request. Some significant subset of that money would go to humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

QUESTION: Okay. But you will accept that that’s still a drop in the bucket compared to what you are asking for and what you’re already giving to Israel.

MR MILLER: Again, it is a smaller number than what we’re giving to Israel, but you have to remember that we are not the only one, as I said yesterday, that is funding humanitarian assistance to Gaza. There are other countries in the region as well that are contributing, and we will hope that others will do more.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Could I just follow on one part, on Rafah? There have also been reports – AFP reported, I think it was in the Egyptian press as well – that wounded Gazans would be crossing starting tomorrow. Is that something you can either confirm or give a take on?

MR MILLER: I can’t confirm – I cannot confirm that. What I can say is one of the problems all along has been opening Rafah for traffic to flow from outside of Gaza to Egypt. If that report turns out to be true, it will mean that Rafah is open for not just one-way traffic trucks going in, but also individuals going out. And we would hope that any agreement to get any individuals out would also unlock the possibility of American citizens, their families, and other foreign nationals coming out. That’s what we have been intensely focused on. When I said the Secretary made this call, the calls that the President has made to leaders in the region, and of course Ambassador Satterfield’s work on the ground, is to trying to reach any agreement.

So while I can’t make an announcement today, we do think we’ve made very real progress on this, as I said, in just the past few hours, and every American citizen should, of course, stay tuned for updates from the State Department. As soon as we have actionable information – and again, I don’t want to promise anything before we know – before we’re able to deliver it. But as soon as we have actionable information about American citizens having the ability to exit through Rafah, we will make it – we will make that information known to them.

QUESTION: Sure. Could —

QUESTION: On the —

QUESTION: Could I just ask —

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: — or unless you want to continue on (inaudible). Could I ask one other aspect of the conflict? I know you’ve said before you’re not going to give commentary on every strike. But there’s quite a prominent one on the Jabalia refugee camp today. Israel said that it killed a Hamas commander, but the health ministry in Gaza is saying over 50 people were killed. Do you have a take on this and about the civilian – what appears to be a heavy civilian toll here?

MR MILLER: Again, I can’t – I’m not going to offer commentary on every strike. We’re just not in a position to do so from a podium here without information that we have verified on our own. I would just reiterate what I have said before, which is, of course, Israel has the right to defend itself. We have talked to them about that right and we’ve talked about it publicly. But as we have said publicly and have also communicated privately to them, they also have the burden and the responsibility to exercise that self-defense in a way that minimizes civilian harm.

QUESTION: Can I follow up on that?

MR MILLER: Yeah.

QUESTION: Have you laid down any red lines for Israel, though? Is it justifiable enough that there is a Hamas commander purportedly in this refugee camp that would then kill scores of civilians? Is that acceptable to the U.S.?

MR MILLER: So again, I don’t want to speak to the circumstances on the ground when we’ve not been able to verify them for ourselves at this point of a strike that just happened. I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to do so. What we have communicated to them is what – the exact same thing we’ve said publicly, which is we think that it is important that they conduct their operations in a way that minimizes civilian harm. Secretary spoke to this, I thought, quite clearly on the Hill today, when he said that – that we see the loss of – the significant loss of civilian lives. He’s personally affected by the loss of civilian lives, whether they be Palestinian or whether they be Israeli. And it’s why we will continue to make clear that we expect the Israel Government to operate in a way that protects civilian lives.

QUESTION: But if the IDF says, oh, there was a Hamas commander here, there was a Hamas commander there, is that sufficient for the U.S.?

MR MILLER: I’m just not going to – I’m not going to get into hypotheticals or to – and I don’t have the ability to comment on each individual strike.

QUESTION: And is there any progress on the safe zones for civilians that were supposed to be stood up?

MR MILLER: It’s, again, an area that we continue to work through with – it’s – that Ambassador Satterfield works on with the Government of Israel, with the United Nations, with other partners in the region about what is the best way to protect the civilians who are inside Gaza.

Yeah. I promised Tracy to —

QUESTION: Thank you. The Secretary also spoke – I know you don’t want to comment on individual strikes, but the Secretary also spoke about how civilian casualties will inflame the Arab world. And so it – given that that’s already happening now with this strike this morning, which was pretty big, is Israel really doing enough to protect – to avoid civilians?

MR MILLER: So let me refer you to a piece by the Secretary that just published in The Washington Post, I think, a half hour before I came out here, where he talks about the need to minimize civilian harm and the need to get humanitarian assistance in. And one of the – and this goes to the first part of your question – one of the cases he makes in that piece is that protecting civilians from harm and getting humanitarian assistance in to civilians isn’t just the morally right thing to do. Of course, it is, and that’s enough reason to do it on its own. But it is also the best thing to do for Israel’s security. It is the best thing to do that we can do, that Israel can do to prevent the conflict from widening, to prevent other actors from coming in, along with our deterrence measures that we will continue to enforce. So we will continue to make that case to the Israelis publicly, just as we have privately.

QUESTION: Okay. And following on the trucks, the Secretary also said this morning that as far as they know, as far as you all know with the inspections that they and Israel are doing, no spillover or whatever they call it – spillage has gone to Hamas as far as you can tell to this point. But there are also reports that Israel has blocked a fair number of those trucks from going in. Trucks arrived to be inspected and move into Gaza, and Israel’s saying no to quite a number of them. Is that – can you confirm that? And if so, why? What is Israel finding that they don’t want going in? And how big a problem is that?

MR MILLER: I can’t confirm that, actually. I wasn’t aware of that, haven’t seen reports of them rejecting, but it certainly very may well be true. They have an inspection regime that they have stood up to verify that only humanitarian assistance is going in. They’re tracking that very closely. But it’s an inspection process that – they are running, not that we are running.

But then, as the Secretary said, no, we have not yet seen any diversion of humanitarian assistance once it’s gotten into Gaza. But it’s an issue we’re concerned about, it’s an issue the Israeli Government is very much concerned about, so we’ll continue to monitor it.

QUESTION: Matt?

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: A follow-up?

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: On the aid trucks into Gaza, the Secretary said today in testimony right now we’re up to almost 60 trucks, we hope – trying to get to a hundred this week. That is the bare minimum of what’s needed. I guess if the bare minimum is not yet being reached by the U.S., why is the Secretary asking for more aid at all, whether it’s – however much of a portion of $9.5 billion is going to Gaza?

MR MILLER: Because we are trying to ramp up the ability to get more and more assistance in to the civilians in Gaza who are caught in this conflict through no fault of their own and are suffering the consequences of this conflict through no fault of their own. So we’re going to do two things: one, work with Congress to get more humanitarian assistance approved from the United States Government because we believe, as I said, it’s not just the morally right thing to do but it’s also something that is in the best interests of Israel’s long-term security; and we’re going to keep working on a diplomatic basis to try to open Rafah gate and work with the Egyptian Government, the Israeli Government, and the United Nations to get as much humanitarian assistance flowing in. A lot of that humanitarian assistance is coming, as I said to, I think, Matt’s question, from other countries in the region and from international relief organizations, not necessarily from the United States.

QUESTION: One more question, if you don’t mind. Senator Chuck Grassley has written to the Secretary a few times about Fritz Berggren, a State Department employee, accusing him of maintaining a publicly available blog that includes a lot of antisemitic content. He called the Jewish people the devil’s children recently. So your – State has confirmed to us that he is still an employee. Has he faced any disciplinary action?

MR MILLER: So because of privacy restrictions that apply to every federal employee, I’m unable to talk about any individual employees’ employments – employment – employment file and employment status here at the State Department. I will say, of course, as a general rule, we oppose antisemitism in any form. Secretary has spoken to this quite publicly. Our special envoy to oppose antisemitism has spoken about this in a number of occasions. And we will continue to work to root it out around the world just as we try to root it out here at home. But I unfortunately, because of privacy reasons and federal statutes, can’t speak to an individual employee’s case.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR MILLER: Yeah.

QUESTION: Yeah, just to move on to – well, back to something that the Secretary addressed during his testimony today, he talked about what the situation in Gaza might be like the day after this – this war, the current conflict, sort of ends. There’s a preference, I guess, from the Secretary’s point of view, for some kind of revived Palestinian Authority. Could you talk a bit more about what discussions you are having? Are there talks with the current Palestinian Authority to see if they are willing to do that? Do you think that’s a feasible thing to have an authority, even if they are Palestinians, to be kind of imposed by Israel after a military operation that – do you think that would be accepted among people in Gaza?

MR MILLER: So I don’t want to get into what the future may hold and I don’t want to get into any details. I think it’d be premature to do at this point. I will say we have had very preliminary talks about what the future of Gaza might look like. The Secretary started those conversations in his trip to the region just in the aftermath of the October 7th attacks. And we have continued those talks at the assistant secretary level, and the Secretary has raised it at time – when in calls with his counterparts. And I expect that it will be the subject of a good bit of diplomatic engagement moving forward. I don’t have any announcements to make about that at this time.

But a couple of things are clear to us. Number one, Israel cannot occupy Gaza. They have said that they don’t want to occupy Gaza and we don’t – we expect them not to occupy Gaza. Number two, Hamas cannot continue to govern Gaza. So that leaves you the question of what comes next, and we are going to be actively engaged in trying to answer that question and answer it in counterpart – or in conjunction with counterparts in the region. But I wouldn’t want to get ahead of that process to try to forecast what it might ultimately look like.

QUESTION: Would the people of Gaza have a say in that?

MR MILLER: Of course, they would. Our end goal is always the establishment of a two-state solution where the Palestinian people have a voice in their own future. That is our policy, it has been the policy from the beginning of this administration, and that is ultimately our policy with respect to the people of Gaza and the people of the West Bank.

QUESTION: And in terms of – sorry.

MR MILLER: Sorry.

QUESTION: In terms of the other countries you might help out with that, who are the sort of – who are you talking to? Who can we say —

MR MILLER: I don’t – I don’t think I can – I don’t think I should get into any further details at this point. We’ll keep it confidential.

QUESTION: Just —

MR MILLER: Yeah.

QUESTION: Just very quickly on that, the – obviously the Secretary is speaking for the United States, but do you think the Israelis are on board with this, the idea of having the Palestinian Authority, which many people in Netanyahu’s government hasn’t – haven’t actually been very fond of, taking control —

MR MILLER: I think I should let the Israelis speak to what they will or will not support. But they have been very clear that they do not expect to occupy Gaza. And we have – the President has made clear that he expects Israel will not occupy Gaza. So it is a conversation that we will have to have with the Government of Israel and with other partners of the region of what the actual administrative authority will be, as well as a conversation we have to have with the people of Gaza going forward.

QUESTION: Matt, on this —

MR MILLER: Michel.

QUESTION: — and I have a couple of questions too. The EU is considering sending a mission to Gaza after the war to control the area. Do you support such mission?

MR MILLER: Again, I think it’s premature to talk about what is going to come next when we’re in the middle of – or I should say it’s premature to talk publicly at this point about what might come next when we’re in the middle of a conflict where our immediate focus is getting humanitarian assistance in to the civilians that are being affected. But it is very much the subject of internal conversations here, and as I said, emerging conversations with our partners. But I don’t think I should try to at this point publicly speculate about what possible missions or other structures we may or may not support.

QUESTION: And do you have any comments on the Houthis announcing that they joined the war against Israel, and they already launched missiles and drones to Israel?

MR MILLER: So I will just say, as we have said from the beginning, one of our top goals is to keep this conflict from spreading. As the President has made clear, anyone hostile to Israel that thinks – that is thinking about joining this conflict should not do it, should think twice. And I will leave – I will leave it at that.

QUESTION: And what’s your expectation or your assessment of Hizballah joining the war, and especially that their secretary general has a speech on Friday?

MR MILLER: Again, I don’t have any assessments. We’ve seen the cross-border activity with Hizballah unfortunately launching attacks inside Israel, shelling targets inside Israel, and of course, Israel responding. It is our – as I said, we do not want this conflict to widen. We’ve sent a very clear message to Hizballah and other actors that they should not enter the conflict. And I will leave it at that.

QUESTION: And my final question. Assistant Secretary Leaf will be in Beirut tomorrow. What would be her message to Lebanon?

MR MILLER: I think I’ll let her speak to the leaders of Lebanon privately before I announce what she’s going to say publicly.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Any update on getting fuel inside Gaza Strip? Today two of the main hospitals announced that they will not be operational by tomorrow if they don’t get more fuel.

MR MILLER: It is, again, an area where we have made progress, and continues to be the subject of intense diplomatic engagement, but I don’t have any announcements to make today.

QUESTION: Any update on the work on the water pipeline that you said yesterday that —

MR MILLER: No. Again, I – not – something that I know we’re making progress on, but I don’t have an announcement.

So Alex, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thanks, Matt. Just to follow up on what he just said about the Yemen – the Houthi – what factors should Israel take into consideration in its response to Yemen?

MR MILLER: I will let Israel make those determinations for itself. I don’t think I should publicly prescribe what factors they should take into consideration.

QUESTION: But it is your position that they should not fight back —

MR MILLER: Again, I’m going to keep the advice that we would give them private. I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to weigh into it here at the podium.

QUESTION: Okay, fair enough. On Secretary’s speech today, just – well, not to change the angle, but different – flip side of the story, when he talked about profound connections between the two wars in Ukraine and in Israel. He mentioned that – how they’re (inaudible), both conflicts, and they both are serious. My question is: Is it fair for us to expect that, given the Secretary’s assessment – it’s very strong assessment – that the department is considering some obvious steps to – in terms of like Russia portion of his statement – to first —

MR MILLER: In terms of Russia —

QUESTION: In terms of Russian portion of his statement, that Russian – Russia’s war in Ukraine is equal to what Hamas is doing in Israel. By the way, it also came out from President —

MR MILLER: You mean steps beyond supporting Ukraine in its fight to defend itself —

QUESTION: Two such —

MR MILLER: — and supporting Israel in its ability to defend itself? Those have been pretty significant steps already.

QUESTION: Two particular – well, two particular steps would actually back it up perfectly, but one is to call Russia who it is. The President said that Putin is doing what Hamas is doing; that means State Sponsor of Terrorism. And secondly, to grant same rights to Ukraine that you have granted to Israel to fight back outside of its borders.

MR MILLER: So we don’t grant or not grant any rights to Ukraine. We have made clear that with the weapons that we supply to them, those should not be used to launch attacks outside their own borders. But Ukraine ultimately makes its own decisions about how to wage its war. I would say with respect to your question, again, we have been the largest supporter of Ukraine’s right and ability to defend itself and repel the Russians’ attack from its borders, just as we are supporting Israel’s right to defend itself from the terrorist attacks. So I get that you continue to push for the one – this one thing that you think would be the magical thing that we are doing that we’re not now, but I would make – take a look at all of the billions of dollars of arms that we have provided to Ukraine that have had some pretty decisive impacts on the battlefield, if you want to see the strength of our commitment.

QUESTION: I mean, and don’t get me wrong. I mean, the question is that why is it that Israel has the right to fight back outside its border that Ukraine doesn’t have by using the U.S. weapons? What’s —

MR MILLER: Ukraine has the right to make those decisions for itself. I don’t have any – I think it’s a little bit of a false comparison.

QUESTION: Can you please come back to me later on it, a different —

MR MILLER: Yeah, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you. Yesterday, an Israeli air strike hit the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital for cancer patients in Gaza. The Turkish Government condemned the attack, saying that it was carried out despite all necessary information, including the hospital’s coordinates being shared with Israeli authorities. Do you have anything to say on that? And does the U.S. believe an hospital can be a legitimate military target, and do you think such actions are in line with the laws of war?

MR MILLER: So again, I’m not going to comment on individual strikes from this podium. But as I said yesterday, hospitals are important civilian – pieces of civilian infrastructure that deserve to be protected.

QUESTION: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matthew. I’m going back to the Houthis fire missiles to the Israel. You said multiple times, even the President said that – do not do that, but they are doing that. Do you think that they are joining the conflict or not? Because —

MR MILLER: Again, I’m not going to make an assessment about that from here, and Israel can make its own assessments about a conflict with Israel. I will just reiterate what our policy has been, which is that anyone that’s thinking about this conflict should not – joining this conflict should not do it.

QUESTION: And do you have any red lines for the Iranian-backed groups, because they are attacking you every day?

MR MILLER: Again, we have made clear that the United States reserves the right to defend its interests, defend its personnel, and will defend its interests and defend its personnel. But I do start to chuckle when I oftentimes hear people here asking me to announce strikes from this podium before they’ve happened or preview actions that we might take. The Secretary and Secretary Austin got pushed to do the same thing on the Hill. Secretary Austin made quite clear today we’ll respond, if we choose to, at a time and place of our choosing. And I think for any number of reasons I ought to leave it at that and not preview any actions we may or may not take publicly from the State Department podium.

QUESTION: One last question. You are saying that the attacks on your forces in – by Iranian-backed groups is a – separate things with the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Why do you think that? Because they are saying that we are attacking the U.S. forces because their involvement into this conflict.

MR MILLER: They can – they can make whatever claims they want about why they are taking their actions. We have made clear that the responses that we have taken are separate and apart from the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Go ahead. Yeah.

QUESTION: Okay, thanks, Matt. Just a brief preface to a couple questions here. There is a lot of reporting in the media that mentions occupied territories, so I want to clarify for our audience, Matt, how these lands become occupied, since the UN Resolution 181 gave the land to Arabs, not Palestinians. How did these lands that were never given by the United Nations to Palestinian Arabs become occupied Palestinian land, and whom did this land belong prior to what you claim that Israel became the occupier of? And just a brief follow-up.

MR MILLER: I don’t think I’m going to get into doing history lessons from here, just as a general rule.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR MILLER: I will say that we believe, again, that the ultimate resolution for peace between Israel and the Palestinian people is a two-state solution along 1967 borders with mutually agreed swaps.

QUESTION: Okay. Just finally, does the State Department agree with the Turkish President Erdogan that Israel is the occupier of their ancestral land?

MR MILLER: It has been – that has been – I’m not going to comment on comments made by the president of Türkiye, but our position on the status of lands in Israel and what the policy ought to be has been clear for some time.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you. America and Europeans have demanded free, fair, and participatory election in Bangladesh, and current ruler Hasina Sheikh is holding the power since 2009. Does America aware that due to the Indian influence, due to the Indian direct and indirect support for Awami League and Hasina Sheikh, there is complete – it’s like logical and impossible for Bangladeshi people to have a voting right and have a free, fair, and participatory election. Number one.

And I have a – second question is Hasina Sheikh hold a press conference last night. At the conference, she made some inflammatory and derogatory comments which is concerning the security of U.S. ambassador, His Excellency Peter Haas. Very few people in the world understand the body language and mockery of Hasina Sheikh. She did the same thing – why August 4, 2018 Marcia Bernicat’s car came under attacked under the direction of same Hasina Sheikh. She is making the same joke and same mockery sitting down at a press conference and making mockery —

MR MILLER: So let me – I think I get the question. Let me just say that we have made clear that we expect the Government of Bangladesh, as we expect every government, to comply with their obligations under the Vienna Conventions for the safe protection of diplomats.

And with respect to your first question, as I’ve said before, as I said yesterday, the holding of free and fair elections is the responsibility of everyone, all political parties, voters, government, civil society, and the media. And what we want in Bangladesh is the same thing the Bangladeshi people want, which are free and fair elections conducted in a peaceful manner.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: I had —

MR MILLER: No, go ahead. I’m going to move.

QUESTION: Thank you. Thank you, Matt. Bangladesh prime – ruling prime minister responded U.S. Ambassador Peter Haas call on dialogue between the ruling party and opposition by prime minister by saying that she will have dialogue with the opposition if the U.S. President Joe Biden does the same dialogue with the former U.S. President Donald Trump. Then she can – might think about this dialogue, as she refused to hold any dialogue between the political parties. And she – her administration’s very much attacking on the opposition. Today, two opposition leaders killed by the police – gunfire and they are arresting – already two top leaders arrested in Dhaka. So every day they are arresting opposition leaders and activists, so how could you believe that there will be an election free, fair, and inclusive?

MR MILLER: So I won’t have any comment on the first part of your question other than to say that the goals I outlined before for free and fair elections, we do believe that dialogue is important to achieving those goals.

With respect to your second question, we are closely monitoring the electoral environment in Bangladesh leading up to January’s election, and we take incidents of violence very seriously. We are engaging and will continue to engage with the government, with opposition, with civil society, and other stakeholders to urge them to work together for the benefit of the Bangladeshi people, to ensure free and fair elections that are conducted in a peaceful manner.

QUESTION: May I —

QUESTION: Thanks, Matthew.

MR MILLER: Simon. Simon.

QUESTION: Neighboring country, since we’re in the region. You had some sanctions on Myanmar today that target the oil and gas state enterprise. Just wondering, though; sanctions were specifically looking at financial services provided to the MOGE, the state oil and gas company. Why not do full blocking sanctions on MOGE, put it on the SDN list and prevent the – as you say, this is a huge source of revenue for the Myanmar military junta. Why not just use full sanctions?

MR MILLER: So we believe that the actions we took today were important to maximize concerted pressure on the military regime to change course that built on our previous sanctions. But with respect to specific sanctions decisions, I’d refer you to the Department of Treasury.

QUESTION: And this is – I mean, Chevron did have a relationship with – U.S. company Chevron had a relationship with this state enterprise. That relationship no longer exists, and you finally do the sanctions that have been called for for a while. Is there – if people were going to ask the question of why didn’t the U.S. do this earlier when you perhaps had more leverage over them, what’s the response?

MR MILLER: Again, I’d refer you to the Department of Treasury for a response on that.

QUESTION: Sure.

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thanks, Matthew. What’s the State Department’s stance on the House bill to provide supplemental funding to Israel? Does the GOP wanting to strip IRS funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, a non-starter for Democrats, make it harder to get supplemental assistance to Israel?

MR MILLER: So I will let others in the government speak to specific legislative packages, most – or first and foremost, the White House. But I will say that our goal is what the Secretary testified to this morning, which is to achieve full funding for Ukraine in its battle against Russian aggression and full funding for Israel to help it defend itself against the terrorist attacks from Hamas, as well as to provide humanitarian assistance to the innocent civilians in Gaza who are a party to this conflict through no fault of their own, as well as the other pieces in the bill. But in terms of specific legislative tactics, I’m going to let the White House speak to that.

QUESTION: Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib criticized the administration’s response to the Hamas attack, claiming that the Biden administration is on the wrong side of history. Does the State Department have any response? Does it have any concerns about the growing domestic opposition?

MR MILLER: So I’m not going to speak to specific comments by a member of Congress. I will say that we stand by our policy. We stand by both of the things we have done, which is, number one, to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself. They suffered a brutal terrorist attack and have the right and the obligation to defend themselves, as any country would. And two, our intense and ongoing work to get humanitarian assistance in to innocent civilians in Gaza.

QUESTION: And finally, is there anything you can share with us regarding what happened with the Houthis?

MR MILLER: No.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thanks. I’ll be very short. I have two short question following – about Bangladesh. The opposition BNP-Jamaat alliance unleashed mayhem across the country. The opposition BNP has announced a new program of blockade for road, railways across the country, which has created fears for further violence. People of the country believe that BNP has chosen the path of violence to foil the upcoming general election. Will you slap visa sanctions on the bad actors that they are killing the police officers and they vandalized the residence of the chief justice?

MR MILLER: So as you know, because —

QUESTION: And another one. Thank you.

MR MILLER: Well, as you know, because I’ve said this before, we don’t announce visa or any other sanctions before we make them, but we continue to support a free and fair election in Bangladesh and believe it should be conducted peacefully.

Alex.

QUESTION: And I’ll be very – I have just one, if I —

MR MILLER: I’m going to pick up – Alex, go ahead.

QUESTION: Switching – thanks. Switching the region to NATO if possible. As you know, NATO’s foreign ministers will gather on November 28. Is it your hope that Sweden will be there?

MR MILLER: We want Sweden to be approved to enter NATO as soon as possible. I won’t put a timeline on it other than to say we want it to happen as quickly as possible.

QUESTION: How frustrated are you that this is taking longer? The Secretary had a conversation with his Turkish counterpart and Hungary also appears to have its own new demands.

MR MILLER: I won’t say we’re frustrated. I’ll say that we want them to be approved as soon as possible. But it’s something that we have spent a good amount of time working on. We have welcomed the announcement by the president of Türkiye that Sweden’s accession would move through the Turkish parliament. We’re watching that very closely, and hoping it gets approved as soon as possible. And we have also noted the comments from Hungary from – that they would ultimately support it as well, and we expect them to do so.

QUESTION: And my final question, if you don’t mind.

MR MILLER: Yeah.

QUESTION: On Azerbaijan. Yesterday marked International Day of Political Prisoners. We just had talks in Baku at the deputy assistant secretary level. I’m just wondering if you guys managed to raise the case of Gubad Ibadoghlu, and others. Gubad’s family reached out to the congress members, and there was a letter to the Secretary from the Hill two weeks ago. Anything you guys could have done that you haven’t done yet?

MR MILLER: So we are – continue to be troubled by the arrest and detention of Gubad Ibadoghlu, and we are alarmed by the reports that his health continues to deteriorate. We have urged the Azerbaijani Government on a number of occasions to immediately release him. We urge Azerbaijan to protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all, consistent with its own constitution and international obligations and commitments, and we have made that clear both publicly and privately.

Michel and then Jen, and we’ll wrap up.

QUESTION: Matt, a further on Gaza. Why doesn’t the U.S. support a ceasefire in Gaza?

MR MILLER: I have spoken to this a number of occasions. We believe a ceasefire would allow Hamas to continue to arm itself and continue to launch terrorist attacks against Israel. I don’t think you can count on Hamas when – I think when people call for a ceasefire, they’re calling for Israel to stop firing. I don’t think there’s anyone that actually expects that Hamas would agree to a ceasefire, a terrorist organization. That said, we have made it very clear that humanitarian pauses – either to allow hostages to come out, or to allow humanitarian aid to come in – would be something that would be appropriate.

Jen, and then we’ll wrap up.

QUESTION: Do you have any readout of the Secretary’s meeting with the new speaker of the House? Was it productive?

MR MILLER: I do. I won’t characterize it, other than to say that it was an introductory meeting. It was the first time the Secretary had a chance to meet with the speaker. He talked to him about a number of things; most importantly, the President’s request for supplemental assistance to support the Ukrainian – support Ukraine and to support Israel and to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza and into other areas. And he had the chance to talk to him about his recent diplomatic engagements in the region, and how we see – and what are our primary diplomatic goals in terms of securing the release of hostages, getting American citizens out, and preventing the conflict from widening.

QUESTION: But you wouldn’t say it was productive?

MR MILLER: I just – I haven’t gotten a detailed – I haven’t gotten the Secretary’s characterization of the meeting, so without getting that, I’m reluctant. And I was up here getting ready to come talk to you all, so I was not in the meeting myself.

QUESTION: And then, so there’s been a lawsuit filed against the State Department and the Secretary on behalf of some Americans who are trapped in Gaza. Are you aware of this? Do you have any comment on it?

MR MILLER: So we’d never comment on litigation. I’d refer it to the Justice Department. I will just say that everyone here at the State Department has no higher priority than getting those American citizens out of Gaza, getting them out as soon as possible. The President – it has been something the President has focused on, and has spent real time and effort on, and raising with his counterparts in the region. And as I said, the Secretary has been on the phone and conducted meetings about this when we were in the region.

We continue to do everything we can to get these American citizens out. It’s been a difficult process for some of the reasons I’ve gone into in previous days, when you have Hamas controlling one side of the border and just not being willing to let anyone go. That said, we continue to work on it, we have made progress, and I hope that we can get them out in the coming days.

QUESTION: Sorry, is Satterfield still in Egypt?

MR MILLER: I – I don’t remember where exactly he is. I know I maybe should get a body tracker on him; I don’t have one. (Laughter.) But I know he’s been moving around the region quite a bit. I don’t know where he is at – I think it’s almost 8:00 at night there now.

So, yeah.

QUESTION: Do you mind if I just do something on a completely separate – on Venezuela?

MR MILLER: Sure.

QUESTION: I know you had some reaction on this yesterday, but the supreme court of Venezuela is saying it’s invalidating the opposition primary. This, of course, comes just days after the arrangement around – announcement of the United States of an ease of the sanctions on Venezuela. What’s your level of concern about this? Do you think this can be reversed? Has there been any discussions with the authorities in Caracas?

MR MILLER: So I will just reiterate what the Secretary said on the Hill today in an answer to this question, which is Venezuela made commitments as a part of the political roadmap that it signed. We expect them to uphold those commitments, and if they do not meet those commitments under the electoral roadmap, we have the ability to take steps – we have the ability to take steps of our own. I don’t want to announce what those would be. I’ll leave it at this point that we expect them to uphold their commitments.

We’ll leave it at that. Thanks, everyone.

QUESTION: Thank you.

(The briefing was concluded at 2:46 p.m.)

Department Press Briefing – October 30, 2023

HomeDepartment Press Briefing – October 30, 2023

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Department Press Briefing – October 30, 2023

Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson

Washington, D.C.

October 30, 2023

Article Index

ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES
RUSSIA
IRAN/REGION
CHINA/RUSSIA/UKRAINE
ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES/TURKEY
IRAQ/REGION
UN/ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES
BANGLADESH
UKRAINE/ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES/DEPARTMENT
RUSSIA
BANGLADESH
ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES
AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN

1:34 p.m. EDT

MR MILLER: Good afternoon, everyone. I would like to start with an update on our work to ensure that innocent civilians in Gaza have access to the lifesaving humanitarian assistance that they desperately need. Yesterday, 45 trucks carrying food, water, and other humanitarian aid moved through the Rafah Crossing into Gaza, marking the highest single-day shipment to date and bringing the total number of trucks that have made it into Gaza to 150. We aim to surpass that number today, tomorrow, and beyond.

We recognize the needs are immense, and we want to see sustained daily deliveries of food, water, and medical supplies into Gaza. And we will continue our relentless diplomatic efforts in partnership with Israel, Egypt, the United Nations, and international humanitarian partners to ensure just that.

In addition, we are making every effort to restore access to essential services, including water. Water is a fundamental human right, and its availability is crucial for the well-being of Gaza’s residents.

We are actively engaged to ensure that communication networks in Gaza remain operational, recognizing the importance of keeping these channels open during such pivotal times. We made clear to the Government of Israel over the weekend that communications networks needed to be restored, and we are pleased that they took steps to do that. Maintaining these channels is not just about connectivity. It is about ensuring that vital information flows, humanitarian coordination continues, and families can stay in touch.

We are also making progress on ensuring the delivery of essential fuel supplies. Fuel is essential to the delivery of humanitarian assistance, the desalinization of water, and the provision of medical care, and we want to see it provided for those purposes as soon as possible. I should note that, even as we work to provide fuel for these essential humanitarian services, Hamas continues to maintain extensive fuel reserves. Rather than provide that fuel to hospitals or aid workers or for other civilian needs however, it continues to hoard it for the benefit of its fighters and to carry out its terrorist attacks against Israel.

Finally, our work to ensure the safety of American citizens in Gaza continues to be our highest priority. Secretary Blinken discussed both of these issues with the prime minister of Qatar this morning, and we will continue to work at the highest levels to secure the release of every hostage held by Hamas and the safe passage of those American citizens in Gaza who want to leave. We had a number of diplomatic conversations about both of these matters over the weekend, as I said, through this morning, and we will continue them in the days to come.

Matt, start us out.

QUESTION: Yeah. Okay. So just building off what you just said there, so how many trucks have gotten in today?

MR MILLER: Forty – I don’t know that –

QUESTION: No, today.

MR MILLER: Today. So I don’t know that any have gotten in today. We expect a significant number to make it through today. Over the last few days we’ve seen deliveries go in as late as midnight, so we still do expect a significant number to go in today. But as of, I don’t know, half an hour, last I checked, they hadn’t yet moved.

QUESTION: Okay. So over the course of the last two or three days, you’re saying, 150 have gotten in?

MR MILLER: No. Since the beginning –

QUESTION: Sorry.

MR MILLER: Since the beginning. Since Rafah gate first opened, which was around a week ago, or so ago, 150 have moved in, 45 yesterday alone. So we’ve seen a significant ramp-up from when you were having –

QUESTION: Okay. Fair enough.

MR MILLER: – eight to 10 trucks a day.

QUESTION: But do you agree with the UN estimate that it’s like a hundred a day that’s the minimum? Is that —

MR MILLER: We need – we believe – I don’t want to put a number on it, but we believe more than 45. We believe we need a significant increase, and that’s what we’re working to secure. Some of this is operational; we need to make sure that trucks can be inspected to make sure that no supplies for Hamas are going in. We need to ensure that there are anti-diversion networks set up and techniques set up. And so it’s an operational question that we’re trying to spin up as soon as possible.

QUESTION: Fair enough. And then on the water issue, how confident are you that you’re close to getting to where you think you need to be?

MR MILLER: So there are two things with respect to water: one, the delivery of water through Rafah, and part of that is increasing the number of trucks; and two is getting water lines —

QUESTION: Yeah, but is that like bottles of —

MR MILLER: I don’t know if it’s bottles, gallons, but that’s one way to provision water. The other is —

QUESTION: But – yes.

MR MILLER: The other is to make sure the water lines into Gaza are turned back on. We’ve had one turned on already. We have agreement to turn another water line back on into Gaza. There are issues with parts of that line actually being damaged, and the Government of Israel and other partners are working to restore those water lines to ensure that they can deliver water.

QUESTION: Who? Who is working on that?

MR MILLER: It’s being worked on on the Israeli side and then also worked on on the Gaza —

QUESTION: The Israelis are going into Gaza City and —

MR MILLER: No. Not inside Gaza. But it’s being worked on on the Israeli side, and then there is work ongoing on the Gaza side. I can’t tell you who’s doing the actual planning.

QUESTION: All right. And then I’ll make this my – I’ll make this my last one. But in terms of the communications, you said it’s important. Obviously, it is important. But if you accept the Israeli argument that this is kind of like a World War II point of view or a World War II situation and they have to eradicate Hamas, much like the Allies did with the Nazis – I mean, I don’t remember any – like in Dresden, was the U.S. working to restore —

MR MILLER: I don’t —

QUESTION: – communications so that the – when you restore communications in Gaza – and I understand why it’s important. But I’m just wondering if this runs counter to what the Israelis tell you their objective is.

MR MILLER: So I would say it’s a different situation, obviously, in Dresden.

QUESTION: Well —

MR MILLER: But I —

QUESTION: I mean, obviously it is. But —

MR MILLER: No, no, I want to – I do want to – it’s a fair question. I want to answer it.

QUESTION: The point is – but the point is, is that if you restore comms for WFP and the Norwegian refugee people, and don’t you also restore communications to Hamas?

MR MILLER: So I’m not going to speak to Hamas’s operational communications. I think they have ways of communicating other than just access to regular phone lines and the internet. We’ve seen them use walkie-talkies that they used in their incursions into Israel, their terrorist attacks on October 7th.

I will say that this is one of the – has been one of the challenges since Israel launched its operations, which is ensuring that it can conduct legitimate military operations, which it has the right and – as we’ve said – the obligation to do, while ensuring that civilians are protected to the maximum extent possible. And so we’ve made the judgment that for civilians to get the humanitarian assistance they need, people need to have the ability to distribute that aid; they need to have the ability to communicate; they need to be able to tell each other where to – tell civilians where to show up for aid.

We need the ability to communicate with American citizens. As I’ve said, we’ve been working to try and open Rafah gate. If we are able to get Rafah gate open for American citizens, we need to be able to send them messages so they can get out.

QUESTION: All – and all of that is understandable. But doesn’t it also mean that you allow Hamas to – you’re opening communications lines for Hamas as well?

MR MILLER: I will just say one of the things —

QUESTION: I mean, you don’t think so?

MR MILLER: One of the things Hamas has been able to do is maintain – they have their own fuel reserves, separate and apart from the fuel that comes in to civilians.

QUESTION: I’m not talking about fuel reserves.

MR MILLER: They have their own – what I’m saying is they have their own ability to communicate that we think they would —

QUESTION: So you don’t think that when the comms got shut down over the weekend, that that affected Hamas’ ability —

MR MILLER: I can’t – I just can’t offer assessment —

QUESTION: Well, how are you offering assessment now that —

MR MILLER: I can’t – what I’m – while I can’t offer an assessment of the military impact of that decision, I can say we thought it was important for civilian purposes that communications be restored.

QUESTION: All right. Thank you.

MR MILLER: Shaun, go ahead.

QUESTION: Can I just follow up on communications? I mean, the – for monitors, they said it’s being restored. I mean, how confident are you that it’s going to be a full restoration of internet access and not just piecemeal?

MR MILLER: I would say that always, in an ongoing military situation when you have military operations being conducted, when there’s communications infrastructure, obviously keeping it maintained will be a concern, will be a process. But it’s something that we’re working to do.

QUESTION: And can you say a little bit just more in terms of how this was conveyed to the Israelis? Was it through this department? Was it – how was it conveyed? And is there any sort of assurance that it’s not – that internet access is going to be preserved going forward?

MR MILLER: I don’t want to speak to the exact communications other than to say that we have maintained extensive conversations with the Israeli government from day one, both from the White House, the State Department, the Defense Department, and – I won’t say – I won’t speak to it further than that.

QUESTION: And then long term, whether that’s – whether you’re fairly certain this is going to happen again in terms of —

MR MILLER: Again, there’s an ongoing military operation being conducted, so it’s difficult to say with any level of faith what the ramifications of that military operation will be when you see significant strikes, when you see ground operations, when you see other events that, of course, could take down communications infrastructure. Our – what we believe is that communications access needs to be maintained for the delivery of humanitarian assistance, so families can communicate with each other. So as we move forward, as we did this weekend, we will work to ensure that it’s maintained.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: We understand that State had a rep in Doha over the weekend. Can you tell us anything about status on the release of American hostages?

MR MILLER: So I will say that Secretary Blinken discussed this – as I said in my opening remarks – with the prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar this morning, someone who he has been in close contact with. It was one of his first calls on October 7th. We, of course, traveled there and met with them. And in that conversation, they covered a number of things, but two of the most important were, one, securing the release of hostages, and two, securing the safe passage of American citizens out of Gaza.

There continue to be significant hurdles to doing both. Obviously with respect to hostages, Hamas has not yet agreed to release anyone other than the four hostages, including the two American citizens. And with respect to American citizens who want to leave Gaza, they continue to not operate their side of the Rafah Gate. So what we have done is try to work with partners who have relationships with Hamas to impress upon them the need to do both. I won’t speak to the details of those negotiations; we don’t think it’s useful to do so publicly. But it is a high priority for us, obviously.

QUESTION: There’s sort of widespread reporting now that the release of the hostages – the negotiations have stalemated. Are you going to continue to send a rep to Doha if no more Americans are freed?

MR MILLER: I – we will continue to work to secure the release of American hostages every day. I don’t want to make public pronouncements or play pundit on the likelihood of doing that versus the likelihood of not being able to do it. I will just say we’ll continue to work on it. There is no higher priority, from the President on down. The President has personally worked on this question. The Secretary has personally worked on this question. Others from the White House and from here have personally worked on it, and it will remain one of our top priorities.

QUESTION: Follow-up question on that just real quick: Could you characterize your – the U.S.’s assessment of these ongoing negotiations? Are you still just as optimistic? Do you want to push back on the idea that it’s stalemated?

MR MILLER: I don’t want to characterize them at all. I don’t think it’s useful for me to do so publicly. As you’ll know, from coming to briefings last week, there are a number of sensitivities, as you can imagine, when it comes to negotiations to try to secure the release of hostages. And this is just one area where I think other than – I will just say that the less said, the better.

QUESTION: Just to follow up on something. You mentioned progress on fuel. Does that mean the Israelis have agreed to allow fuel in? And sort of when and how can we expect that?

MR MILLER: I, again, don’t want to speak to details other than that we have made progress. The Israelis do have significant concerns about diversion. It is literally – the fuel that is provided to Gaza is fuel that Hamas uses to launch rocket attacks against civilian targets in Israel, so they do have legitimate concerns about the diversion of fuel. We are trying to work through those concerns and establish a reliable delivery mechanism in the way that we have established a reliable delivery mechanism for food and water and medical assistance. We’re making progress on it. I don’t have an announcement to make today, but I would hope to do – to be able to do so in the coming days.

QUESTION: And more broadly, just as the operation is sort of – has started over the weekend, the expanded operation by the Israelis, I wondered: Are you concerned about the sort of scenario that I think has been talked about quite a lot that the Israelis are sort of going to enter a quagmire in Gaza, and this is going to basically drag on and sort of play into Hamas’s hands in that as – if this drags on for a long time, there are a lot of civilian casualties, internationally there’s more and more disapproval of what Israel is doing. I wonder if that – is that a concern as this begins for the U.S.?

MR MILLER: So I will say as a first thing I will maintain my position of not kind of offering assessments of their military operations or any kind of prognostication about how they might proceed, other than to say that in our communications with them we have talked to them about the importance of having tangible objectives that they can actually meet and a plan to meet those objectives, and at the same time have said the same thing privately to them that we have said publicly, which is the need to protect civilian lives as they conduct their operations and to operate consistent with the laws of war, international humanitarian law.

But I will say that there is another point to that larger question, which is we think one of the most important things we can do while Israel conducts these operations is to perform all this work I started by – I started this briefing talking about, which is to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza. And I should note it is the United States of America that has been able to deliver these agreements to get food and water and medicine in. We’ve worked with the Government of Israel, we’ve worked with the Government of Egypt, we’ve worked with the United Nations and humanitarian organizations. But it is the work by the President, who has invested real time and energy on it, and the Secretary, who has done the same, and, of course, our Special Envoy David Satterfield on the ground, who has been able to broker these agreements and not just the agreements but work out a lot of the operational details to get food, water, medicine on these trucks inspected and get them delivered in, and is working hard to get those numbers increased so they’re – we can have sustained deliveries, even greater than the number that we had yesterday.

So I will say, from our purposes, we think the best thing that we can do to address that larger question that you asked is to ensure that to the maximum extent possible civilians in Gaza are protected and they have the lifesaving humanitarian assistance they need.

QUESTION: Sure. Just lastly, I wondered – we can come back to a discussion we had last week about following the laws of war. I know that you made some – I think your view is that the Israelis are not targeting civilians, but you haven’t got an assessment on whether overall the operations are following the laws of war. I wondered, in the context of that, cutting off communications as the operation began, does that potentially speak to the issue of – as you mentioned, the Israelis have given warning to civilians, but if you cut all the communications in a place, then doesn’t that make it more difficult for them to follow through on the – what the Geneva Conventions would say, which is that you need to make as many efforts possible to avoid hitting civilians?

And just an additional point on that, the – Netanyahu’s comments on Saturday bring up sort of biblical reference to Amalek. I wondered if that also weighs on how the U.S. sees this as – when you’re – if you’re citing these kind of biblical verses or making allusions to those historical facts, does that detract from your sense that the Israelis are going in here as a professional military trying to root out a terrorist group rather than something a little broader?

MR MILLER: So I will say just one small detail on the first, they do have other methods they’ve used to notify civilians. They’ve dropped leaflets and other things in the past. But we do think that this is another one of the reasons why communications networks do need to be open and functional. It’s for these very real humanitarian purposes.

And then just with respect to the overall question, again, the Israeli Defense Forces are a professional military that have been doing this over a long time. They’re one of the most professional militaries in the region, and all we can do is continue to make clear to them that it is our expectation that they operate with the highest degree of professionalism and that they operate in full compliance with the laws of the war, and we’ve made that clear from the President on down.

QUESTION: Can I —

MR MILLER: Yeah, Said, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you. Very quickly, just to follow up on Simon’s point on the goal, the endgame, are you aware that – is it clear in your mind that Israel’s goals – are they clear in your mind? Do you know exactly what they are?

MR MILLER: We do. They’ve been quite clear about that, which is they want to ensure that Hamas can no longer govern —

QUESTION: Okay.

MR MILLER: Let me just finish, Said – that Hamas can no longer govern in Gaza and that they can no longer use Gaza as a place to launch attacks against innocent civilians in Israel.

QUESTION: Okay. So we are likely to expect this war to go on until the last Hamas person is completely neutralized, correct?

MR MILLER: I am not —

QUESTION: No, I’m trying to —

MR MILLER: I will let the Government of Israel speak to their military campaign.

QUESTION: All right. Let me ask you on the numbers. We talked about numbers. Today, your colleagues at the White House, I think, John Kirby, talked about – and even John Sullivan spoke about thousands and so on. We went back and forth the other day. But in fact there is a way to determine this. Because there is the – the Israelis keep records of all Palestinians – dead, alive, born, death certificates and so on. It’s called COGAT; they have their registry. Everyone that is born is registered with the Israelis; everyone that dies is registered with the Israelis. They have identification numbers. You can compare those IDs that were published by the ministry of health in Gaza to the actual figures. Would the United States do that, to look at it, to substantiate these figures that we hear?

MR MILLER: So —

QUESTION: I mean, the figures are staggering. Eighty-four hundred – that’s a lot of people.

MR MILLER: Let me – let me just say this: We don’t have the ability to offer independent assessments of what’s happening on the ground in Gaza, because we do not have people there to conduct —

QUESTION: Right.

MR MILLER: — let me finish – to conduct that type of assessment. But we recognize that thousands of innocent civilians have been killed. That includes a significant number of children. Every one of those losses is a tragedy, whatever the number is, whatever – and whether it’s the number that the – that has been released from Gaza or whether it’s some other number, every one of them is a tragedy, and we mourn the loss of every one of those civilians. Which is why we continue to emphasize that Israel must conduct all of its operations consistent with the laws of war, and why, as I’ve said, we’re working to deliver this humanitarian assistance into Gaza.

QUESTION: I have a couple more questions before the – I want to ask you about – the Red Crescent issued a statement that Israel is warning the Al-Quds hospital and Shifa hospital to vacate, and they had been bombing around it, and so on. Does that raise your concern? Would you tell the Israelis, “Don’t bomb hospitals”? Because sometimes these patients cannot be moved.

MR MILLER: So as I would – as I said a minute ago, we expect Israel to operate consistent with international law, including the need to take feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians. And of course, hospitals and other sites are protected civilian infrastructure.

QUESTION: And my last question is on the West Bank. There has been an upsurge – an uptick in settler violence. They have guns, American guns that have been distributed to them and so on. They forced people out of a couple of villages and so on. I wonder if you’re following this, on this issue, or everybody just caught in what’s happening in Gaza.

MR MILLER: We are following it, and in fact you heard the President speak to this publicly last week.

QUESTION: Right. I’m saying in terms of actual steps on the ground.

MR MILLER: We – yeah, no – I – let me just say we consistently and unequivocally condemn all acts of terrorism and violence and the targeting of civilians, including the recent attacks by Israeli extremist settlers in the West Bank. Israel must take measures to protect Palestinians from such attacks and to hold accountable any settlers who carry out attacks, as well as any members of the Israeli Defense Forces who stand by or fail to intervene when these attacks occur. And I will just say that we have made clear – privately to the Israeli Government and publicly – that these attacks are unacceptable, they need to stop, and those responsible need to be held accountable.

QUESTION: I have three questions. First, Save the Children Fund, which is a U.S.-funded NGO, said that more children in Gaza were killed than all conflicts combined since 2019, and that’s in three weeks. So does this number translate to you, as you said, that Israel is actually abiding by international law and not targeting civilians?

MR MILLER: So I’m going to go back to the thing we have said before, which is the thing that makes this so difficult is that Hamas continues to hide its military infrastructure, its terrorist infrastructure, inside civilian locations. They bury – they bury their operations in tunnels under hospitals, under schools. They keep headquarters in residential apartment buildings. But if you listen to what Jake Sullivan, the President’s National Security Advisor, said on television yesterday, while this heightens the burden for Israel, it does not absolve them of the responsibility to act consistent with the laws of war. That is our clear policy. We have made it clear to them privately, and we made it clearly publicly on a number of occasions.

QUESTION: I want to give you just a small analogy for a moment – to the second, which is very simple. So if you want to shoot a bad guy and this bad guy went and grabbed three kids from the street and put them in front of them, do you shoot the bad guy with the kids?

MR MILLER: I’m not going to engage in kind of hypotheticals —

QUESTION: Okay, sorry.

MR MILLER: I’ll – I’m just —

QUESTION: (Inaudible) the same question. I’m sorry.

MR MILLER: Go ahead, Shannon.

QUESTION: Thank you. On efforts to – assuming the administration still says it’s just Hamas holding Americans in Gaza back from leaving – those 500, 600 estimated there – is the administration doing anything new to either incentivize or pressure Hamas to allow outbound foreign nationals?

MR MILLER: So just as I won’t discuss the details of our work to secure the release of hostages publicly, I’m not going to discuss that – our work on that publicly, other than to say it is the subject of ongoing conversations, it was the subject of the Secretary’s call with the prime minister, foreign minister of Qatar earlier today. Hamas is making a number of demands before they’ll allow people to leave Gaza. I’m not going to speak to those demands, but it’s something we’re continuing to try to work through. Just as we believe they ought to release all the hostages they are holding, we believe they ought to release or let leave all the American citizens and other foreign nationals who are being basically forced to remain in Gaza against their will because Hamas won’t uphold its responsibility to operate its side of the Rafah Crossing to allow people to move through the crossing into Egypt.

QUESTION: Thank you. And the State Department has also – a follow-up – I can – the – Israel is – the last government-led charter flight is going to leave Israel tomorrow. And now is this because there is no demand for such charter flights anymore? Is there a different reason? Might more be out in the future?

MR MILLER: It’s – it is purely a demand issue. We had a charter flight leave yesterday that had five people on it. We have consistently seen the demand for our charter flights go down to where we had a lot of flights going out with 50 percent capability. I think the number of seats that we have offered, we’ve had something like 25 percent of them actually be filled. So there just – there continue to be ways to leave Israel commercially. We’ve offered a number of ways over the past few weeks to leave through our charter flights. We have notified everyone that the charter flight tomorrow is the last one that we are currently planning, so if they do want to leave, now is the time to do it; don’t wait for another flight. But we will always conduct assessments in real time about whether there is additional demand, whether circumstances change on the ground, and if we need to make additional arrangements, we of course will be open to doing so.

QUESTION: Sorry. Five people were on a —

MR MILLER: Five people on —

QUESTION: How big of a – how big a plane was it?

MR MILLER: I don’t know, but it wasn’t a small one. It was a regular commercial-size charter flight that went out with five people on it. So you can see why we would start to —

QUESTION: So it’s a – it was like a full-size passenger plane with only five people?

MR MILLER: Yeah, yeah.

QUESTION: It wasn’t like a private jet.

MR MILLER: No.

QUESTION: It was a —

MR MILLER: It was a full size.

QUESTION: Can I —

MR MILLER: So you could see why we would revisit the circumstances of operating these charter flights.

QUESTION: Well, yeah. But – so wait, does that mean that – and I’m sorry to get into the weeds here – did the five people get charged the pro rata share? Or how does that —

MR MILLER: I very much doubt that we are charging them the full cost of that. It’s the —

QUESTION: Or like 737 or something?

MR MILLER: It is the responsibility of the United States Government to assist in some of these circumstances.

QUESTION: All right.

MR MILLER: They are charged a fare, but I doubt it is the – is that cost.

QUESTION: All right. Let me just ask you one more thing, because you said that it is the United States of America that has managed to get the amount of aid into Gaza since the beginning of the war. You said about 150 trucks.

MR MILLER: Yeah.

QUESTION: Okay. Tomorrow, the Secretary and Secretary Austin are going up to the Senate Appropriations Committee to testify about the administration’s request for – at least in terms of Israel – I think it’s $14.3 billion for Israel.

MR MILLER: Correct.

QUESTION: Uh-huh. And that’s on top of what the U.S. already provides Israel, which is $3.8, roughly, billion a year. How much have you pledged to Gaza aid?

MR MILLER: So there is – we’ve pledged $100 million already for Gaza aid. But there is a significant amount – I don’t have the number at my fingertips – there is a significant amount in that request to Congress that is humanitarian assistance for Gaza. I’m happy to follow up and get the exact number.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR MILLER: But there is – in that request, it’s not just funding for Ukraine or funding for the Israeli military or funding to secure our border. There is also a request for humanitarian assistance.

QUESTION: Really?

MR MILLER: Yeah. But —

QUESTION: Is it more than a billion dollars?

MR MILLER: I don’t know. But let me just say, when we – I don’t want to lose the point. We have —

QUESTION: I don’t want to lose the point either.

MR MILLER: No, no, no. But I —

QUESTION: But, I mean, you’re saying that you guys are responsible entirely —

MR MILLER: No, no. I – let me just make —

QUESTION: – for getting aid into Gaza, which you admit is not enough.

MR MILLER: Let me make —

QUESTION: And it’s 150 trucks in the last three weeks.

MR MILLER: Let me make clear —

QUESTION: And you pledged $100 million for it.

MR MILLER: Let me make clear what I —

QUESTION: Which is not nothing. But it’s not $14.3 billion.

MR MILLER: Let me make clear what I meant by those comments. It is not the United States that is providing all of the food, water, medical assistance on those trucks. There’s —

QUESTION: You just —

MR MILLER: Hold on. Let – Matt, let me —

QUESTION: You just said that it is the United States —

MR MILLER: Let me explain.

QUESTION: – of America – you said it is the United States of America that is —

MR MILLER: Let me explain, and I’m going to explain to you what I meant.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR MILLER: There is no shortage of countries in the region, in international humanitarian networks and organizations, who want to provide —

QUESTION: And they stepped up?

MR MILLER: – humanitarian assistance in – they have stepped up, and the United States has stepped up as well.

QUESTION: Have they?

MR MILLER: They have. But I will say what the United States was able to do is secure agreement with Israel and the Government of Egypt. That has been the breakthrough that we’ve been able to achieve. It’s not really a question – or it’s not the only question of the amount of food and amount of water on those trucks. It’s getting agreement and working through the operational questions to get those in there.

QUESTION: Okay. Fair enough.

MR MILLER: And that’s what the United States has been able to do.

QUESTION: Fair enough, yes. Getting them in there is a priority. But it is also the amount that’s getting in.

MR MILLER: I don’t have to remind – I don’t have to remind you that —

QUESTION: And if you say that you got 45 trucks in today, or yesterday, and you’re hoping maybe —

MR MILLER: So —

QUESTION: – that another 45 will go in today, and there – but there have only been 150 in the last three weeks, and you’re giving them $100 million, and yet you’re – the Secretary and Secretary Austin are going to go up and ask for $14.3 billion to go to Israel —

MR MILLER: So —

QUESTION: – this year, on top of —

MR MILLER: Again —

QUESTION: – what the U.S. already gives them.

MR MILLER: Again, there’s humanitarian assistance also included in that package. There are no shortage of other countries who want to provide humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people. But I don’t think I have to remind you that before we secured this agreement, there were hundreds of trucks lined up in Egypt outside Rafah that couldn’t go in.

QUESTION: I am not saying —

MR MILLER: So it was the leadership of the United States that has gotten those – that gate open and gotten them in.

QUESTION: I believe – listen, Matt, I am not trying to say the U.S. doesn’t deserve credit for brokering a deal to get it in. I’m just questioning when you say that, oh, wow, it’s the United States of America that’s managed to get humanitarian aid in, after you get the agreement to get it in, it’s the amount of aid that’s going in.

MR MILLER: Of course. No.

QUESTION: And it is also —

MR MILLER: But the barrier to that aid getting in has not been the amount of assistance on the Egyptian side.

QUESTION: No. Well – all right.

MR MILLER: It is getting it inspected and getting it moved through. And that’s what we’ve been able to work on.

QUESTION: Matt, the speaker – the speaker —

MR MILLER: Go – no, let me – Said, I –

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR MILLER: Said, I’m going to come to someone else. Elizabeth, go ahead.

QUESTION: Can you be more specific on the holdup at Rafah? Last week you said that armed militants were blocking the exit of Americans at times, and at other times there was no one there to physically open the gate. As of today, what is Hamas doing to obstruct their exit?

MR MILLER: I don’t know what they’ve done on the ground today. We always have imperfect information that comes to us about what’s happening in Gaza where we don’t have anyone operating. But that has been – it has been one of those two things that has prevented people from getting out. Since we started working on this problem, Hamas has made a number of demands, and we’re trying to work through the issue.

QUESTION: And just to follow up on that, if Hamas opened the gates today, just to be clear, would Egypt be able and willing to process the Americans?

MR MILLER: They are.

QUESTION: Israel?

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Just a follow-up question about this funding request. In the bit where you talk about international assistance or the humanitarian part, it says that some of this humanitarian programming – the “crisis could result in displacement across borders and higher regional humanitarian needs, and funding may be used to meet evolving [program] requirements outside of Gaza, including Israel, West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and Egypt.” Palestinians point to this particular phrase when they talk about their fears that there is going to be further displacement outside of Gaza.

So I’m wondering, when you put this request, were you anticipating that that might happen?

MR MILLER: I don’t think that we could be any more clear about our position on this question. You saw the President speak to it yesterday, that he opposes the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. You saw the Secretary say it when he was in the region, when he saw that – said that this question is a non-starter. We have had to make clear, when you have regional instability like we have here, we have to make reasonable planning expectations for the possibility of refugees. But we have made quite clear that our position is that Palestinians deserve the right to stay on Palestinian land.

QUESTION: Okay. Israel?

MR MILLER: Yeah, go ahead.

QUESTION: Israel.

MR MILLER: Go ahead, Alex.

QUESTION: Thank you. A couple questions. On Makhachkala, what is the administration’s position on what exactly is going on there in Dagestan? And what steps do you expect the Russian Government to take to prevent this from happening or —

MR MILLER: So I would say we condemn the violent anti-Semitic events that have been reported in Russia threatening Israelis and Jews. I saw the video, as I’m sure all of you did. It looked like a pogrom to me. We call on Russian authorities to publicly condemn these violent protests, to hold those – to hold anyone involved accountable, and to ensure the safety of Israelis and Jews in Russia.

QUESTION: Thank you. On Iran as well, based on what you have seen on the ground, do you think the message that you are sending out to Iran is being well received in Iran? And if not, then what happens?

MR MILLER: I’m not going to speak to what the Iranians are received, I will – or what the Iranians have received or how they have interpreted the messages. I will say that we have been very clear, we have made quite clear, that we will defend United States interests and United States personnel in the region. You saw us conduct military operations last week to reinforce that fact. We have made this clear directly to the Iranian Government and we hope that they will choose a path of de-escalation.

QUESTION: And if I may, one more on China. (Inaudible) multiple meetings between Secretary and his colleague as well as Special Representative Kim had earlier a conversation with his colleague. Does the Secretary believe that China can be enticed away from supporting Russia in Ukraine? Or in other words, does – do you guys believe that Beijing’s patience towards Putin’s – whatever he is doing in Ukraine is not limited?

MR MILLER: Again, I – just as I wouldn’t make any assessments about what Iran may or may not do, I’m not going to make any assessments about what China may or may not do. I will speak for the United States and say that in his meetings with Wang Yi on Thursday and Friday, the Secretary did raise the issue of Russia’s war against Ukraine and made clear that if China wants to play a productive path forward, we would welcome China doing so. We have said that publicly, Ukraine has said publicly that they would welcome China playing a constructive role.

The same thing holds true, by the way, for the Middle East, where one of the things that the Secretary raised in his issue with Wang Yi is the past few weeks after he had an initial phone call with him from Saudi Arabia when we were in the region, the fact that China maintains communications channels with a number of countries in the region, and anything that China can do to lower tensions would be something that would be helpful. And we found it to be a constructive engagement.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Could I just follow up briefly on Dagestan – follow up just briefly?

MR MILLER: Yeah.

QUESTION: Can you assess the actions of Moscow, of the Russian Government (inaudible) on this? And Russia publicly has blamed outsiders for supposedly fomenting the unrest.

MR MILLER: I’ve seen their comments about blaming Ukraine. That is absurd, obviously. I don’t have any assessment to offer. I’ve seen reports that they may be arresting people. I don’t know the full extent of the actions that they will take. I will say that we believe they should hold anyone responsible accountable.

QUESTION: Israel?

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you. Thank you, Matt. Two questions. The Israeli ambassador to South Korea disclosed evidence that Hamas is using not only Iranian-made weapons, but also North Korea-made weapons. What is the United States’s view on this? How do you – concern about it?

MR MILLER: Well, so, Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization and we oppose anyone providing them with anything they can use to carry out their terrorist activities.

QUESTION: Israel?

MR MILLER: All right.

QUESTION: Okay. Thanks, Matt. In light of the October 28 Reuters news report on Turkish President Erdogan’s statement that Israel is an illegal occupier and that Hamas is not a terrorist organization. Has President Biden condemned President Erdogan’s antisemitic comments, which fuel a hatred of Israel? And I have a follow-up.

MR MILLER: Well, I think we have been pretty clear about our assessment of Hamas, that they are, in fact, a brutal terrorist organization. You saw them carry out a terrorist attack that killed more than 1,400 Israelis, including children and elderly people on October 7th, including American citizens. And we will continue to be quite clear about that and make our views known to everyone around the world.

QUESTION: The follow-up —

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

QUESTION: The follow-up is: In what ways can President Biden educate the world of Israel’s right to all their ancestral land promised in the Jewish Torah book Deuteronomy and help dispel the myth of Israel as the illegal occupier?

MR MILLER: So I’m not going to speak to biblical references. I will say that we will continue to make clear we support Israel’s right to exist, Israel’s right to defend itself, but also that we support a two-state solution as the ultimate resolution to issues between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

QUESTION: Is —

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Israel?

MR MILLER: Go ahead. Yeah, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you. On the statements by Mr. Erdogan against Israel and in favor of Hamas, I mean, I have an easy question. Do you like these statements or not? Why you don’t say it?

MR MILLER: I think I made pretty clear our assessment of Hamas, and it does differ from the one that was offered.

QUESTION: But do you have any problem that your ally Erdogan is saying that Israel is terrorists and not– and not Hamas?

MR MILLER: I think our views are pretty well known on this question —

QUESTION: Yes.

MR MILLER: — that Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization. I don’t think anyone is in doubt about what we think about this situation. And we will continue to engage with all of our allies on —

QUESTION: And another question.

QUESTION: A follow up.

QUESTION: Three senators – one second, please.

MR MILLER: One more, and then we’ll —

QUESTION: Three – one more, yeah. Three senators —

MR MILLER: It’s – people are getting a little rowdy today.

QUESTION: Yes.

MR MILLER: What’s going on? (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Anyway, three senators are asking to expel Türkiye from NATO, and I see that Senator Scott says that Hamas murders innocent babies, et cetera, et cetera. Erdogan has again shown that his interests don’t align with those of the U.S. We need to seriously consider Türkiye membership in NATO if it’s willing to side with Iran-backed terrorists. Your comment, please, sir?

MR MILLER: So I would say that Türkiye, despite our disagreements on this question, has been a valuable NATO Ally. We look forward to continuing to work with them to strengthen NATO, and that includes securing Sweden’s quick accession to NATO, something that we know is now pending in the Turkish parliament. So there are obviously – this is not the first issue with which we’ve disagreed with the leadership of Türkiye, but we still find them to be a productive and helpful NATO Ally. And we’ll continue to work with them on the things we agree – on the things on which we agree, and make clear to them when we have disagreements.

QUESTION: Yeah. Thank you, Matt. There are some efforts in the Iraqi parliament – they trying to set up a session behind closed doors to discuss a decision to expel the U.S. forces and also closing down the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Do you have any concern on that, to that move? And adding to that, Hadi al-Amiri, Badr Organization leader, that they are part of the Iraqi government – today he said that there’s no justification, no reasons for the U.S. forces to stay in Iraq, and we should let them go out. What’s your comment on that?

MR MILLER: So I don’t have any way to judge the veracity of the first report you said. I will say that our forces continue to operate in Iraq to prevent the re-emergence of ISIS, which is an important counterterrorism priority, both for the United States and for other countries in the region. And I don’t have any changes to announce in our posture, which by the way, would come from the Pentagon anyway, not here.

QUESTION: And – another question. According to a senior DOD officials, from October 17 to date there were 23 attacks on the U.S. forces in the region. And 14 of these attacks – 14 of these attacks were – happened in Iraq, and some of the attacks in Syria were conducted by the Iraqi militia. Why the U.S. is hesitate to targeting the Iraqi militia groups backed by Iran? And to prevent you —

MR MILLER: So I would say – comments regarding DOD – comments made by DOD officials and comments about DOD operations should probably be presented to —

QUESTION: But is there any —

MR MILLER: Hold – let me – let me just – to be presented to DOD, not to the State Department. However, I will say the President has made clear that we will take every action that is necessary to defend U.S. forces, U.S. interests anywhere in the world, and I’ll leave it at that.

QUESTION: Is there –

MR MILLER: Let me just – guys, because we’re getting short on time, I’ve got a number of people, let me move on.

QUESTION: Thank you. The UAE requested a UN Security Council emergency meeting today to seek a binding resolution demanding a humanitarian pause in Gaza. What is the U.S. position on this call, this resolution? And is there any update on the U.S. position on either humanitarian pause or a ceasefire in Gaza?

MR MILLER: So I’m not going to comment on the resolution, other than that our Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield continues to work to try to reach consensus, something that we hoped we’d be able to do last week when our resolution that had majority support inside the UN Security Council was vetoed by Russia and China. But as the Secretary made clear last week, we think that humanitarian pauses are something that should be considered, if they would allow hostages to be released and transit out of Gaza. We think they could be considered for the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and we’ll continue to make that clear.

QUESTION: Question on internal —

QUESTION: Is —

MR MILLER: Go – go ahead.

QUESTION: Israel?

MR MILLER: Go – go ahead. I promised I’d come to you next.

QUESTION: Thank you. Thank you, Matt. We have seen your statement over the weekend about attacks on opposition grand rally and violence in Bangladesh. This violence basically orchestrated from the ground – report – this violence orchestrated by the police and internet shutdown prior to the rally began. And since then, police have arrested hundreds of opposition politicians, including the secretary general of the main opposition, BNP, and the family members of the opposition leaders, and file hundred cases against them. So how does the U.S. reacts on this situation? And one more follow-up.

MR MILLER: We condemn the political violence that took place in Dhaka on October 28th. The reported killing of a police officer, a political activist, and the burning of a hospital and buses are unacceptable, as is violence against civilians, including journalists. We encourage the authorities to thoroughly investigate the incidents at the October 28th rally and to hold those responsible for violence accountable. The holding of free and fair elections is the responsibility of everyone – voters, political parties, the government —

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

QUESTION: Matt, follow-up – follow-up?

MR MILLER: Guys, guys. Everyone relax. I’m not even done with this answer. He has a follow-up, before you start yelling. The voters, political parties, the government, the security forces, civil society, and the media.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: In recent days, pro-government media outlets and their supporters have criticized U.S. Embassy Dhaka officials for meeting with the opposition political leaders and dissidents. These reports suggested that the regime is spying on the U.S. diplomats. Are you allowing the spying U.S. diplomats in the country, in Bangladesh?

MR MILLER: I will just say that diplomats talk to a wide variety of people – civil society organizations, media professionals, business leaders, cultural contributors, educators, and many other types of organizations and individuals. That is what diplomats do as part of their everyday jobs, and we’ll —

QUESTION: Sir, may I have – I have a follow-up.

MR MILLER: Guys, relax. And we’ll continue to do so.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matthew. What exactly will be in the supplemental aid package for Israel and Ukraine?

MR MILLER: So the —

QUESTION: Well, specifically Israel, actually.

MR MILLER: So the White House submitted that. You can go look at it. It’s on the –

QUESTION: It’s on the – okay.

MR MILLER: Available online at the Office of Management and Budget, and you can look to see all the various programs.

QUESTION: OMB – and should Congress pass Ukraine and Israel assistance together or separately?

MR MILLER: We think they need to pass both of those priorities and they need to do it as soon as possible.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: And will the U.S. allow Gazan refugees to enter the United States? Are there plans to admit Gazan refugees into the U.S.?

MR MILLER: Again, we believe that the people of Gaza want to stay in Gaza. That’s what we’ve consistently heard from Palestinian leadership and others in the region, and we believe that they have the right to do so.

QUESTION: And lastly, —

MR MILLER: Wait – no – I’m – that was three. I’m going to —

QUESTION: Okay. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Mr. Miller.

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: I have two questions on Russia. So the Russian foreign ministry said last week that they received a set of proposals on the Strategic Stability Dialogue and arms control from the United States. Do you have anything on this? Do you have any details?

MR MILLER: I don’t, but I’d be happy to take it back and follow up.

QUESTION: And one more —

QUESTION: Follow up on Bangladesh.

MR MILLER: No – guys. All right, just – you’ve got to stop yelling when other people are answering questions. It just – I’m sure your colleagues would appreciate you not, as I would say to my kids, walking on their words. Go ahead.

QUESTION: And I wanted to come back to my questions on CTBT. You remember I asked you about —

MR MILLER: I did. Let me follow up with you after the – I believe we may have a statement coming out on that today.

QUESTION: Okay. Thank you.

MR MILLER: Now, go ahead.

QUESTION: Yeah, Mr. Miller, my name is Jacob Milton. I’m working for Bangladeshi weekly newspaper and We are the People. I have a question. Last – October 28th, under the direction of Hasina Sheikh, the prime minister of Bangladesh, the armed cadre of (inaudible), wearing police uniform and using petrol bomb and gunpowder, killing innocent civilian, destroying the property of the government as well as public’s, and that ruling party is describing that those attacks took place by the opposition party. And they are doing it for the last 14 years. I think internationally everyone recognized that all of the attacks – call terror attack or anything, as you are mentioning some terror group – all over the world, it is the – one of the ruling party’s armed cadre, Chhatra League and Jubo League, and some other people. Does America has any plan to designate them as a terrorist organization?

MR MILLER: So I think that everything I’ve said in response to the previous question on Bangladesh applies here, and I will say that we have made clear that we will take actions if necessary to support democracy in Bangladesh, and I would never preview those from the podium.

Go ahead. Two more and then we’ll finish up. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you very much, Matt. Pakistan’s envoy at the UN —

MR MILLER: It’s Monday or something. I don’t know.

QUESTION: Pakistan’s envoys at the UN, Mr. Munir Akram, said that this whole Israel-Palestine issue did not start since October 7th; it has been there since last 50 years. Many allies of the U.S. are saying – are asking for ceasefire. And at the United Nations, 120 countries asked for the ceasefire. Don’t you think ceasefire is a good way to at least move forward the current situation?

MR MILLER: We do not, because we believe that Israel has the right, the obligation, the responsibility to defend itself against those brutal terrorist attacks. The United States of America – every country in the world, if it was attacked and a terrorist organization was sitting across its border ready to launch new attacks, would want to carry out operations to conduct those. That continues to be our position.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: One follow-up —

MR MILLER: I’m just going – go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you. Thank you.

MR MILLER: Yeah.

QUESTION: Nazira Karimi, Afghan journalist. Although Taliban receive a lot of money under humanitarian program from United States, Europe, anywhere. And also Pakistan forcibility push Afghan people – they are crying, children. Today so many of them – they – has been killed during the way. I don’t know – that that’s not fair – there is any possibility to United States bring a lot of pressure, give them more chance to wait and Taliban should prepare for them to go voluntarily to Afghanistan? They contact with me so many people, said – to change their mind, Pakistani authority should wait a little bit, give them more chance.

MR MILLER: Let me just take that question back. And with that today, I’ll wrap. Thank you, all.

(The briefing was concluded at 2:21 p.m.)

Department Press Briefing – October 26, 2023

1:34 p.m. EDT

MR MILLER: Good afternoon, everyone.

QUESTION: Good afternoon.

MR MILLER: I’m not really sure where to start. I don’t have any opening remarks, and Matt’s not here. Who wants to kick us – who wants to kick —

QUESTION: I’ll take it.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR MILLER: Oh – Jen, go ahead. Do the honors.

QUESTION: Thanks, Matt. Can you give us any updates on the opening of the Rafah Crossing? Where do negotiations stand to try to get civilians to be able to access that gate? What is the expectation you’re giving to the Egyptians and the Israelis in terms of who will be able to leave?

MR MILLER: So it continues to be a matter that we’re working on. Ambassador Satterfield is on the ground in Israel, continuing close consultations with both the Israeli Government and the Egyptian Government, as well as the United Nations. There have been convoys moving through. As you know, we’ve unlocked that piece. There haven’t been, to our estimation, sufficient – a sufficient – there hasn’t been a sufficient amount of aid getting through, but we’re working on mechanisms to speed up the screening of that aid so more of it can move through the gate and make it to the innocent civilians in Gaza who need it.

We continue to work to unlock the very difficult, kind of practical problem of getting American citizens out. I think it might be useful for me to talk a little bit about what the issues actually are in that. So if you – if you’ve ever been to Rafah Crossing or if you know what it looks like, there is an Egyptian side that is controlled by Egyptian immigration authorities, and then there is a Gaza side that has been controlled by immigration authorities from Hamas. And in the middle, there is a no man’s land. And so the Egyptian authorities are ready to process American citizens and other foreign nationals if they make it through the Gaza side of the border, through the no man’s land to them.

But the problem has been – up until now, and it’s the problem that we’ve been trying to unlock – is that at times on the Gaza side of the border there has been no one there from Hamas to open the gates and process people and let them through. And at other times, there have been actually armed Hamas militants standing there, not even letting people approach the gate.

And so we are continuing to work through, with the United Nations, with the Government of Egypt, the Government of Israel how to get this situation unlocked. We have been making progress. I can’t get into the details of that progress, because it’s – they’re very sensitive negotiations, but it’s something that we are focused on and hoping to get – hope to have American citizens and other foreign nationals able to move through in the coming days.

QUESTION: What are you telling American citizens right now who are in Gaza, who have asked for assistance getting out?

MR MILLER: So we have sent a number of messages to American citizens. As you know, there are a number who have registered with the Department of State to receive updates. We sent a message to them yesterday, just telling them that we were continuing to work on the – to continue to work on a solution, and that we would provide them information as soon as we had an update.

As you know, there have been times when we thought that the gates were going to open and we sent messages to American citizens, telling them that it was possible it was going to open, and so if they could make it safely there they should consider doing so. And each of those times, we unfortunately weren’t – the gate didn’t actually open, for the reasons I just articulated.

So we are going to stay in touch with them, let them know we’re working on it. And as soon as we have an update about the – them actually being able to make it through the crossing into Egypt, we will send them that update.

QUESTION: And then last question: Are there any U.S. officials at the Egyptian side of the Rafah Crossing?

MR MILLER: There are American officials, consular officials – I don’t want to give their exact location, because it is somewhat of a volatile situation – who are on the ground in Egypt, who, without getting into too much detail from this podium, will be able to facilitate the onward journeys of American citizens when we are able to get them through the Rafah Crossing.

Shannon.

QUESTION: Thank you. Just for my understanding, the Rafah Crossing, when aid convoys move in, is Hamas’s presence not required there to open the gate to those trucks that are allowed to cross into Gaza?

MR MILLER: So there’s a – there are gates from trucks to go in and out, and then there are gates for people to walk through. It’s a different thing. I – the Egyptians are opening their side of the gate. I don’t know, actually, if someone’s – who’s opening the other side of the vehicle gate that these trucks are going through. I would assume it’s Hamas, but I don’t know that for a fact. But it’s a different transit point for people to walk through, and there is no one there to open those gates and do the immigration processing that needs to happen for people to walk through and make it to the Egyptian side.

QUESTION: And has the State Department explored using this other point of entry possibly in these emergency situations to move trucks out of the area and also perhaps American citizens?

MR MILLER: I will say that we have explored every opportunity, including some that we haven’t discussed here, continue to explore every opportunity. We don’t talk about them publicly, because it’s often not useful given the security situation on the ground. But we are looking – we are pursuing every possible alternative available to get the American citizens out and will continue to do that.

QUESTION: Lastly, those American citizens – you still don’t have any estimate you can give on how many Americans in Gaza the State Department is in contact with?

MR MILLER: I don’t. It’s in the several hundreds, but there’s a number that we are in contact with. And the – as always in these situations, we don’t know exactly how many of them will choose to leave. We provide information to all of them that have registered with our system. Like I said, it’s several hundred. And on any given day, people make their individual choices based on their situation, their family situation, whether they want to leave or not.

Simon.

QUESTION: Yeah. Also on the border crossing – well, specifically on the issue of getting fuel into Gaza. Where do we stand with trying to get an agreement on allowing fuel to go in?

MR MILLER: So we do think that it’s important that fuel be able to make it into Gaza for humanitarian purposes. Obviously the aid workers who are delivering humanitarian assistance through Rafah and then onward inside Gaza need to be able to – they need fuel to be able to advance those deliveries. Fuel is important for the provision of medical care; fuel is important for desalinization.

Israel has very real concerns about the diversion of fuel. Hamas continues to launch rockets. And so Israel has real concerns, and so we are trying to work through a mechanism to ensure that we can get fuel in in a way that would not be diverted, so it could be used only for humanitarian purposes. It’s one of the things that Ambassador Satterfield, who has a lot on his plate, is very much focused on. I don’t have an update to give today, but it’s something that we are trying very hard to effectuate.

QUESTION: What could – what kind of mechanism could there be that would – at some point, fuel is something that could be diverted once it’s in there, right? Is there a third party who could somehow make sure that that goes to hospitals or the places that you’re saying it’s needed?

MR MILLER: As with all of these details, because they’re the subject of some very delicate ongoing discussions, I don’t think it’d be appropriate for me to talk about the details from here.

QUESTION: I don’t – okay. And just on the issue of – as you said, shipments have been going in, but it seems to be sort of happening very slowly. What is the holdup for – I mean, I think it’s only less than 70 trucks that have been in the last four or five days since —

MR MILLER: There are some practical considerations that we’re trying to work through. Chief among them – but not only – chief among them is we need to speed up the inspection regime, and we’re working to do that.

Yeah, Leon.

QUESTION: Yeah, I’ll be brief. Staying, obviously, in the region, but just on a slightly different issue, the President yesterday said that he had no confidence whatsoever in the numbers given by the – number of Palestinians killed in Gaza. The Hamas is publishing today a list of names of 7,000, I think, people – that’s the number that they’ve giving. What credibility at all do you give to that? And how can – because the – obviously, President didn’t get into numbers, and then he said innocent civilians will be killed, but he really said he had no confidence whatsoever in the numbers. Do you have any numbers on – from the Israeli side or ways to compare?

MR MILLER: So I will note, just for the record, that the President also noted that we mourn the loss of every civilian life, and that includes innocent Palestinians who’ve had their lives taken over the course of this conflict, and it’s something the Secretary has made clear on a number of occasions. But it is true that all of the numbers that are provided publicly are provided ultimately by Hamas, and so, given the way that Hamas has misled the public – most recently with respect to the explosion at the hospital last week that they claimed was an Israeli airstrike when our assessment is that is not accurate, and we have released information about that; the Israeli Government has released information about that – we don’t trust Hamas.

Now, we don’t – that – we don’t have any way to make an accurate assessment of our own about the number of civilians who have died in Gaza. There is not an independent body that’s operating in Gaza that can provide an accurate number. But we do have skepticism about everything that Hamas says, but that said, obviously a number of civilians have died, which is why we’re working to do everything we can to minimize civilian harm and get humanitarian assistance in to the civilians in Gaza.

QUESTION: Can I follow up on that point, if I may?

QUESTION: I want to follow on this —

MR MILLER: Let me – go ahead, Said.

QUESTION: Yeah, thank you. You said that, given the facts on the ground, there are a number of Palestinians that have died. So what is that number, in your view?

MR MILLER: So what is —

QUESTION: What is that number in your view? How – you —

MR MILLER: We don’t – we – no, the point I just – is we don’t have a way of accurately assessing that number.

QUESTION: Is it in the thousands? Is it in the thousands?

MR MILLER: See, as I – there are a number, but I cannot stand here and give you without – there is not a United States body, there is not a United Nations body, there is not a credible body that is in there assessing them. But I – but let me just say that we know it’s a significant number of people have died. We mourn the loss of every one of those civilians, and that is why we are doing everything we can to make clear to the Israelis that they need to operate in a way that minimizes civilian harm and that we are doing everything we can to get humanitarian assistance in for the benefit of the innocent civilians.

We just are unable to offer our independent confirmation of the number because there’s no independent body that is making assessments. The only organization that can – that is currently giving this number is Hamas, and obviously, we don’t trust Hamas.

QUESTION: Okay. Okay. But, I mean, just to follow up on what the President said, that this is war and in war people die and so on and all these things – what would be acceptable for the United States? I mean, do you have a figure that can be acceptable —

MR MILLER: So —

QUESTION: — that would push the Government of the United States, that has a great deal of leverage on Israel, to say okay, the time has come for a ceasefire?

MR MILLER: Said, I think you are conveniently leaving out a number of things that the President said yesterday. The President said, as he’s said repeatedly, as I just said, that we mourn the loss of every civilian life, and he’s talked about how in direct conversations with Prime Minister Netanyahu he has made clear that Israel needs to operate consistent with international humanitarian law.

Let me put it this way: We do not want to see one innocent civilian die. We don’t want to see an innocent civilian die in Israel; we don’t want to see an innocent civilian die in the Gaza. The fact is Hamas continues to use innocent civilians as human shields. Israel is conducting what in our assessment are legitimate military operations to try to take out the terrorist group that attacked them on October 7th. They need to do so in a way that minimizes civilian harm, and at the same time, we need to do everything we can to get humanitarian assistance in.

QUESTION: So do you believe that Israel is following the laws of war in this case? I mean, I’m looking at – that entire neighborhoods were completely wiped out.

MR MILLER: Again, I – as I’ve said – we talked about this the other day – I’m not able to sit up here and offer an assessment of individual strikes. I will say that our expectation is that they need to follow the laws of war and they need to follow international humanitarian law, and that means not deliberately targeting civilians, which we do not believe they are doing. It means operating in a way that minimizes civilian harm when they are trying to take on – take out legitimate terrorist organizations.

QUESTION: Okay. One more question and that would be it for me. Secretary Blinken – according to a report in Axios that was published yesterday at, like, 7 o’clock in the morning, Secretary Blinken told his guests or his – the group that he met with on Monday that he’s asked the Qatari PM to rein in Al Jazeera war coverage. Can you confirm that? Did the Secretary ask the emir of Qatar to rein in Al Jazeera coverage?

MR MILLER: So I’m not going to speak to private diplomatic conversations, but you have heard me say from this podium that we would hope that everyone that talks about this war, everyone that covers this war would use reliable sources of information, would make sure that their coverage doesn’t – is not – does not rely on sources of information that are incorrect.

Again, I want to go back to the hospital explosion last week when you saw reports in the Western press and in the press in the Arab world that immediately attributed that to the Government of Israel —

QUESTION: Well, they still – they still believe that, by the way.

MR MILLER: — hold on, let me – just let me finish – just based solely on Hamas’s claim —

QUESTION: Okay.

MR MILLER: — and continued to report it as an Israeli strike even after Israel had offered an assessment to the contrary, we had offered an assessment to the contrary, and Hamas had offered no information.

QUESTION: Okay. Right.

MR MILLER: So I will say that we continue to hope that everyone will treat claims from Hamas skeptically.

QUESTION: Okay. This is not a claim from Hamas. This is a published article by a well-known Israeli newspaperman. He wrote it in Axios and so on and he attributed it to solid sources and so on, and he said that Mr. Blinken told the Jewish community leaders on Monday – he also met with Palestinian leaders on Monday – and he told them that he asked the emir of Qatar to rein in Hamas. And the reason I ask because yesterday at about this time or an hour before, at noon, Israel bombed the place where the family of a Al Jazeera prominent correspondent – the senior correspondent at Al Jazeera – and they killed his entire family. Do you have any comment on that?

MR MILLER: So two things. Number one, if you’re suggesting a link between the two —

QUESTION: I’m not suggesting anything. I’m just —

MR MILLER: Well, you asked them in – hold on. You asked them in direct —

QUESTION: I am not suggesting anything. I am —

MR MILLER: You asked them in direct – so I’m glad you’re not suggesting that, because any such suggestion would obviously be preposterous. I will say that just as we mourn the loss of every civilian, that includes those journalists who are in harm’s way. And I would say, as we’ve noted a number of times from the United States Government, we pay special – we give special respect to journalists who put themselves in harm’s way to let the world know what is happening and to bring information to the world. So obviously we mourn the death of those journalists. It is a great tragedy.

Alex, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thanks, Matt. On this topic, two questions. I’m sure you have seen media reports about Hamas delegation visiting Moscow today. What role has Russia been playing in this fight against Hamas – your assessment?

MR MILLER: We haven’t seen them play any productive role. The only thing that we’ve seen them do is exercise a veto in the United Nations yesterday on a resolution which we – which achieved majority vote inside the Security Council but was vetoed by Russia and of course by China. But in terms of the work that we have been trying to do to keep the region calm, where we have had conversations not just with leaders in the region but the Secretary had a conversation with Wang Yi while he was in the region, we have seen Russia play no productive role at all.

QUESTION: Any reaction to Hamas dialogue – having dialogue with Hamas in Moscow?

MR MILLER: I wish I could say I was surprised, but I’m not. And I don’t have any further comment.

QUESTION: And on Iran, yesterday the President warned publicly the ayatollah that he – should there be any attack on U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq, there’ll be – it will trigger a response. We have seen multiple reports that there’s not one, there’s two attacks since yesterday. There hasn’t been any response. What should we expect in the next couple of hours, days?

MR MILLER: So I am not going to preview any action from this podium. I will say that we always reserve the right to defend ourselves and our interests. We will never hesitate to take action when needed to protect and defend our forces and our interests overseas. And any response, should one occur, a U.S. response, will be at the time and place of our choosing. And as I said, I certainly wouldn’t discuss it from here.

QUESTION: Please come back to me later on Caucasus. I have two. Thank you.

MR MILLER: Okay. Yeah, Humeyra, go ahead.

QUESTION: Yes. Since you disputed the number of civilians killed, just wanted you to verify this. So the UN said that 35 of their workers have been killed in Gaza, 24 journalists, including the family of our colleague Wael Dahdouh. Is this something you dispute as well or just Palestinian civilians?

MR MILLER: No, I – I’m not able to verify that. We don’t have an independent U.S. assessment to make of that. But no, I do not dispute numbers from the United Nations. Obviously there is a grave – a great difference between the United Nations and a terrorist organization like Hamas.

QUESTION: But the United Nations is using the same numbers —

MR MILLER: I don’t know where they’re getting their —

QUESTION: — that Hamas is using.

MR MILLER: I don’t know where – I don’t know where they’re getting their information. The United Nations obviously has connections with workers that it has on the ground. So I’m not able to speak to their assessments without having any more detail of how they arrived at them.

QUESTION: Okay. (Inaudible) this with the Israeli cabinet ministers have been calling Palestinians in Gaza “human animals,” and many people in the Arab world believe that this is an incitement campaign that will lead to more killing and, in a way, sanction the killing of Palestinians, including civilians. Is this something that you condone or can you condemn what the Israelis are saying from this podium?

MR MILLER: I think it’s important that everyone involved in this conflict, everyone involved around the world remember the basic humanity of every individual, of every human being. And as I said before, we think it’s important that Israel respects civilian life in conducting their operations.

QUESTION: Okay. One more on the Jordanian foreign minister who just spoke at the UN, and he was speaking on behalf of the Arab Group. He said that collective punishment against civilian Palestinians in Gaza is a war crime. Now, the U.S. has been providing Israel with lethal weapons, they’ve been giving them a cover even when they’re in obvious breach of international law like cutting off water, electricity, and fuel. Does the – or do the lawyers at the State Department believe that the U.S. is immune from prosecution later on when the dust is settling?

MR MILLER: So I would say that we would agree that we oppose collective punishment in any instance, and that’s not what we believe is happening here. We believe that Israel, as I’ve said, is conducting legitimate military operations against a terrorist group that embeds itself in civilian populations, that uses civilians as human shields, that puts its military headquarters in schools, in hospitals, in residential apartment buildings. Israel has a right and an obligation to do everything it can to respond to the terrorist attacks and take on the terrorist organization that launched them. But as I’ve said, they need to do so in a way that protects civilian life to the maximum extent possible.

QUESTION: Okay. One last quick one.

QUESTION: Sorry, can I cut in?

QUESTION: Go ahead, Matt.

QUESTION: Go ahead. Well, I’m just mystified by that last response. You oppose collective punishment, and you say that that’s not what you’re seeing here, and yet numerous people have said that that is what’s going on.

MR MILLER: And that is not an assessment that we have made. Obviously, a number of civilians have died in —

QUESTION: Correct.

MR MILLER: — this conflict, and we want to see civilians protected to the —

QUESTION: Right. Okay. So you’re – so but you accept that.

MR MILLER: Of course. Of course.

QUESTION: And – but you don’t – I just want to make sure, because I asked Secretary Blinken about this last week. I said, do you think that the – much like what Said’s question was.

MR MILLER: Yeah.

QUESTION: Do you think that the Israelis are complying with the international laws or rules of war? And he said last week, well, there’ll be plenty of time to figure that out at the end. But that’s not really what the question is, is do you think that they are complying with them now? And I am not trying to minimize what happened on October 7th at all. But since you guys have made it a priority to tell the Israelis that it’s important for democracies to respect these laws and rules, do you think that they are so far?

MR MILLER: We have not made – yes, we have not – as is consistent with what the Secretary said on Friday, we have not made any kind of formal assessment. There are a number of strikes that happened. You would have to look at the facts and the circumstances of every one of those strikes.

QUESTION: Well, when you – well, when is it —

MR MILLER: Hold on. Let me just – to make that kind of —

QUESTION: When is it that you make that kind of determination?

MR MILLER: That’s – to make that kind of formal assessment. Right now what we are doing is having conversations with them to ensure that they are conducting the strikes that they are conducting consistent with the laws of war and protecting —

QUESTION: And you think that they are so far?

MR MILLER: We have not made any kind of formal assessment, but it is —

QUESTION: Well —

MR MILLER: But hold on, let me finish. It is our assessment they are not deliberating targeting civilians.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR MILLER: They’re warning civilians to get out of harms way when they’re taking a military strike. It is a difficult situation because of the point I made about Hamas using its human shields.

QUESTION: Understood. I am not – and I am not suggesting anything otherwise.

MR MILLER: We have not – we have not —

QUESTION: I just want to know, is it your assessment that they are right now complying —

MR MILLER: We have not made any kind of formal —

QUESTION: No, no.

MR MILLER: I know. I’m —

QUESTION: I’m not asking for a formal assessment, but it sounds to me as though you’re saying that you guys believe that the Israelis are operating —

MR MILLER: It is —

QUESTION: — within the rules of war and international humanitarian law.

MR MILLER: So they have launched – so we believe that – so we —

QUESTION: Right?

MR MILLER: They have launched a number of strikes. And to make that – hold on – to make that determination, you would have to conduct an examination of every strike, which, obviously, we have not done. Those are very fact-specific determinations that people here at the State Department would have to make. We have not made that assessment. I will say we do believe that they are not intending to strike civilians, that they are trying —

QUESTION: Okay.

MR MILLER: — to conduct their operations in a way that minimize civilian harm.

QUESTION: Okay. And what – doesn’t that mean, then, that you think that they are complying?

MR MILLER: Again, that is – Matt, it is a legal determination that requires intense —

QUESTION: Look, I’m not asking for a legal determination.

MR MILLER: I —

QUESTION: But if you —

MR MILLER: But – no, but the question that you’ve asked is a legal question that requires a legal determination. There are formal assessments the State Department makes to – as to this question, and they require looking at very fact-specific determinations as regards to each strike. We are in the middle of this conflict. We have not made those determinations. What I can say is what – in our conversations with the Israeli Government, they have told us they are trying to minimize civilian harm. And we have impressed upon them the need to do that.

QUESTION: Okay. And you believe that they are doing that?

MR MILLER: We do.

QUESTION: Okay. Thank you.

QUESTION: And there’s a disagreement —

QUESTION: Go to this?

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Therefore, you would disagree with the UN secretary-general when he said yesterday in front of the Security Council that there are clear violations of —

MR MILLER: It – that is just not an assessment that we have made.

QUESTION: But he’s made it.

MR MILLER: He has. It’s not an assessment that the U.S. Government has made.

QUESTION: But you’ve made similar assessments when Russia bombs places in Ukraine. You very quickly will say what you think is happening in that bombing, right? Why do you need to assess every single strike?

MR MILLER: And they have – they have – those have been after the result of internal determinations here at the State Department.

QUESTION: I would say you’ve come out much more quickly than that. Given the amount of time that the bombing has been going on in Gaza, you’ve had enough time – you’ve had more time than in some cases have —

MR MILLER: You – we have not seen Russians warning civilians to vacate apartment buildings when they launch them. We’ve seen evidence in Russia’s case of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure. That’s the – that’s what we —

QUESTION: So you have made some kind of assessment of the —

MR MILLER: No, I’m saying that’s the difference in the situation and the facts that we have seen.

QUESTION: But wait, the fact is you have made a determination because you – what you just said to Simon is that you made a determination that Russia deliberately targeted civilians, and you have made a determination —

MR MILLER: No.

QUESTION: — in this case that Israel is not deliberately doing that.

MR MILLER: No. No, you’re – that’s not —

QUESTION: I’m sorry. I don’t see there’s any – there’s no other way to read what you —

MR MILLER: No.

QUESTION: — or to listen, to hear what you’re saying.

MR MILLER: Again, we were able – we were able to show and make the determination in the case of Russia that they were intentionally targeting civilian infrastructure. We have not come to that conclusion here.

QUESTION: No – but with Israel? But —

MR MILLER: With Israel, yeah.

QUESTION: Okay. So that means that you have thus far determined that Israel is complying with the laws of war.

MR MILLER: No, it does not mean that. It means that we have not conducted – again, Matt, I know you want me to make a claim —

QUESTION: No. I —

MR MILLER: — that usually is at the end of a formal legal process. And I’m not able to do that.

QUESTION: But – no – I don’t think that’s correct at all. And in fact, it’s exactly as Simon said: You guys were very quick off the bat to accuse Russia of – and probably correctly – of committing war crimes and doing that kind of thing.

MR MILLER: So —

QUESTION: But in this case – and it’s now – or – two and a half weeks in – you guys are saying – you guys won’t say whether you will make a determination even though many others have. So – or many others have weighed in either on the yes they are complying or no they are not complying.

MR MILLER: I am saying we —

QUESTION: And so I think that what the world is looking for is a clear statement from you guys whether you think that they are heeding your advice, and it sounds to me as though you’re saying yes, they are. You then – but when you’re pressed on that, you won’t give an answer.

MR MILLER: Again, we believe they are listening to our advice, but I cannot make the formal – I just cannot make –

QUESTION: All right.

MR MILLER: — the formal determination when it comes to every one of the strikes that’s been launched.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR MILLER: I’m – let me – go ahead, Said. Go ahead, and then we’ll —

QUESTION: Right here, just very quickly. So you’re saying —

MR MILLER: I do want to give other people a chance, but go ahead.

QUESTION: Yeah. You’re saying that dropping leaflets on people —

MR MILLER: I’m sorry? Say —

QUESTION: That dropping leaflets on people telling them that we’re going to bomb this site like three or five – for five minutes before is actually complying with the laws of war? Is that what you just said?

MR MILLER: Said, I am not able to sit here at this podium and talk about the specifics of every —

QUESTION: No, you said they informed people —

MR MILLER: Said – Said, I let you finish the question; let me finish the answer.

QUESTION: Right. Sure.

MR MILLER: — of every individual strike. To make a determination of a war crime, you need to be able to do these very fact-specific determinations and compare them about what international law requires and see if the international law has been violated. I am not able to make that assessment. Certainly not as – with facts that you are giving to me about whatever strike —

QUESTION: No, you just said they informed them.

MR MILLER: Correct.

QUESTION: I am responding to what you said.

MR MILLER: Correct. I —

QUESTION: Do you think that absolves Israel from committing war crimes, or does it – does it show that they are complying with the laws of war?

MR MILLER: That is not what I said. It is a holistic determination that we would have to make looking at all the circumstances.

QUESTION: So what do you make of that —

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you. Thank you. So let’s go to Africa. Today —

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

QUESTION: Today —

QUESTION: Can I just stay on this topic?

QUESTION: Can I ask my question?

MR MILLER: Go ahead, and we’ll come back – we’ll come – we’ll —

QUESTION: Okay, thank you.

QUESTION: Okay, so today the SADC group of ambassadors had a meeting, and during this meeting, the ambassador of Angola in United States once again highlighted President Lourenco’s willingness to lead an effort to ensure the fact that the sanctions on Zimbabwe be lifted. So as – and this is a concern of all African countries, that those sanctions are unfair, the sanctions. So what is Biden’s administrations doing in order to lift the sanctions on Zimbabwe?

MR MILLER: I will unfortunately have to take that one back and get you an answer. Did you – go —

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR MILLER: I’ll – go – I’ll – let me – go ahead. I’ll come to you next. Yeah, go ahead.

QUESTION: Okay, so Matt, thank you. Regarding the attacks on Israel, what conversations has Secretary Blinken or other State Department officials had with the Lebanese Government, as well as the UN secretary-general pertaining to Hizballah activities or missile firings and the United Nations interim force in Lebanon obligations to intervene or stop the attacks? And I have a follow-up.

MR MILLER: So I will say that we have made clear that all of the parties – to every party in the region hostile to Israel that if they are thinking about this – entering this conflict, they should not take that step.

QUESTION: Okay then. It seems like Qatar and Türkiye are playing both sides. Is either government truly an honest broker and having a positive impact that you know of on stopping the assaults against Israel?

MR MILLER: We believe that Qatar has played an – has played a very useful role in this conflict in a number of cases, most importantly securing the release of the two American hostages that were released last Friday. Qatar continues to engage productively on this question with entities in the region. The Secretary has publicly thanked them for that role, and we hope it will continue. Go ahead.

QUESTION: I want to come back to the question about the numbers of people who have been killed in Gaza. One, John Kirby just said during the state – during the White House briefing, when asked about the thousands number, he said, quote, “We would not dispute that.” Number two, when it comes to trying to figure out the numbers of people, yes, I take it that U.S. officials aren’t inside Gaza. But with the rise of organizations that use and basically reverse-engineer information on social media to try to pull together those numbers, why isn’t the U.S. Government doing that? Is the U.S. Government doing that? And if not, wouldn’t that be helpful in trying to determine just how much loss of life —

MR MILLER: Sure.

QUESTION: — has happened, and whether that would go towards giving more informed advice to the Israelis?

MR MILLER: Sure. We would welcome any credible assessment of the loss of life inside Gaza. We don’t have the ability ourselves. We are not on the ground there, able to talk to people and families who have reported lost loved ones. It’s not an ability we have when we don’t have United States Government personnel inside Gaza. But if there was a credible third party that could do it, of course we would welcome it. I would say, whatever the exact number is, we know that a significant number of civilians have lost their lives, and it is a tragedy. Every one of those losses is a tragedy. And that is why we have been working so hard to get humanitarian assistance in, to establish areas where civilians could be safe from harm, to communicate directly to the Israeli Government that they need to act consistent with the laws of war. And it’s why we’ll keep at those efforts.

So the – I understand the importance of the numbers, and it is important to know, and we would obviously like to have an accurate assessment that we could rely on. But it’s not going to change our work to protect civilian lives, what that number ultimately is. We’re going to keep – we’re going to stay focused on that.

QUESTION: One more.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

QUESTION: And when it comes to the transport of fuel into Gaza, particularly to deal with the desalination, particularly with keeping hospitals operating, are there third parties that the U.S. and its regional allies have identified that could verify that the fuel that is brought in actually gets to those locations, is not diverted? How quickly can that third party or those third parties be brought online to make this happen?

MR MILLER: That is one of the issues that are – that is under discussion. But I don’t think I should get into any of the details before we’ve been able to come to some kind of ultimate agreement.

QUESTION: Is it imminent?

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Are you able to say whether it’s imminent?

MR MILLER: I – we’re working on it. We hope to have an agreement soon, but I wouldn’t want to put a timetable on it.

QUESTION: Matt?

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you. There has been a deep frustration in the Muslim world against the U.S.’s approach to Israeli-Hamas war, mostly simply leaders and foreign ministers of Türkiye, Qatar, and queen of Jordan criticized the quote/unquote “double standards” of the West in the Gaza conflict. So I’m wondering: How will the U.S. address this deep frustration and anger in the Muslim world, in its Muslim allies and partners, about its approach to Israel, about its unconditional support to Israel?

MR MILLER: I think we will try to keep having honest, open conversations with people – both with leaders in the region and directly with the public. It’s one of the reasons we stand up here and take questions. It’s one of the reasons the Secretary has done a number of interviews, including with Arab television networks. And we’ll continue to do that to make clear what our policy is, that we think it’s important that Israel be able to respond to a terrorist attack, as any country would, including countries in the Muslim world – but that they need to do so in a way that protects civilians from harm.

QUESTION: One follow-up, please. As my colleague mentioned, UN secretary-general said Israel’s actions are clear violations of international humanitarian law. So I’m wondering, by refraining from raising concerns about Israel’s – such actions, such violations, does the U.S. think it has lost its moral ground in other global issues in other parts of the world? I mean, are we – are you worried that your appraoch to Israel will undermine your message and your calls for respect to international law and humanitarian – human rights in other parts of the world?

MR MILLER: No, I do not. I think that we will continue to be clear that, in any conflict, civilians must be protected. They should have a real opportunity to voluntarily get to safety, to access food, water, shelter. That’s what we’re working hard to achieve for civilians in Gaza. And we will continue to make clear that those rules apply to – equally to all parties in a conflict, including Israel in this conflict, including Russia and Ukraine with respect to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with respect to any parties to any conflict in the world. We will continue to reinforce that message, because we believe that efforts to mitigate and respond to civilian harm are both a moral and strategic imperative that we will continue to push for in this instance and in others, and that are – they are the necessary actions that democracies should take.

QUESTION: Matt.

MR MILLER: Go ahead. Go ahead, Nike.

QUESTION: Yeah, can we move on to China?

QUESTION: Can we stay on this?

MR MILLER: I’ll come to you next, but let Nike –

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR MILLER: Let Nike go ahead, and —

QUESTION: Sure. Congressional leaders – some congressional leaders have urged administration officials in their meetings with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to raise directly the questions on Americans wrongfully detained by China and other political prisoners. Would Secretary Blinken press China on this issue? What outcome would the United States like to see? Can you say (inaudible) names?

MR MILLER: So I am not going to speak to the meeting before it happens. The Secretary will meet with Wang Yi later today, and again tomorrow. But I will say that in all of our meetings with Chinese officials, we have raised areas of concern that we have, and those areas include wrongfully detained Americans. And you should expect that U.S. Government officials will continue to do that in their meetings with Chinese Government officials, and when the meetings are over, we’ll be happy to talk to you about exactly what we did.

I will say that with – that with respect to wrongfully detained Americans, a number of times it’s actually not helpful for us to raise their names publicly. There are a number of places where they don’t want us to, where there are privacy objections. But I can assure you that we are working behind the scenes to try to secure their release as soon as possible.

QUESTION: And on Taiwan, Foxconn, the global (inaudible) supplier for Apple iPhones, is recently under investigation. This timing is sensitive because it come at a sensitive moment when Foxconn’s founder, Terry Gou or Guō Táimíng, is entering into the Taiwan’s presidential election. Does the U.S. share with many analysts’ view that this is attempt to intervene and intimidate Taiwan’s presidential election? Does the U.S. have a position on a presidential election of a self-ruled democracy?

MR MILLER: I will say that we have deep confidence in Taiwan’s democratic process, believe it’s up to Taiwan voters to decide their next leader free from outside interference. The United States does not take sides in Taiwan’s elections, as we don’t in elections anywhere in the world. We are committed to the fair treatment of all candidates. And our policy with respect to Taiwan will remain the same regardless of whichever party is in power.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matt. On Bangladesh, opposition leader Khaleda Zia – whether U.S. would call on Bangladesh authorities to allow her getting medical treatment abroad, since the State Department’s annual reports describe her trial did not meet required fairness, and it is a political ploy to remove her from the political process. According to media reports, three members, medical doctors from the John Hopkins in Bangladesh and checking her medical condition as the Voice of America English service reported the country’s first female prime minister high risk of dying under this current government restrictions. So what is your comment?

MR MILLER: I will say that we are monitoring reports about former Prime Minister Zia’s deteriorating health. We have encouraged the Bangladeshi Government to ensure a fair and transparent legal process for her. And I don’t have anything to add to – an internal legal process.

QUESTION: One more on Bangladesh, Matt.

MR MILLER: You got – hold on, let me finish – yeah.

QUESTION: One more on Bangladesh. Ahead of grand rally 28th of October, the government is very much attacking on opposition and arresting every day. And they are trying to control by any means to obstruct the grand rally, and you are urging many times – Ambassador Peter Haas also urging many times – to ensure fundamental rights and to reflect the will of the people of Bangladesh. So what is your comment?

MR MILLER: Our comment is, as it has been, that we believe the upcoming elections need to be free, fair, and peaceful. And I don’t have any further comment.

Nick, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you so much. I know that —

MR MILLER: I was calling on Nick, but go ahead.

QUESTION: Yeah. Thank you.

MR MILLER: That’s why I said Nick, but – unless —

QUESTION: You said it’s – yeah, U.S. Assistant Under Secretary Afreen Akhter recently paid a visit to Dhaka. Pro-opposition speaker in different talk shows claiming that U.S. issued a deadline to Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina to resign by November 3rd or face the music. Though U.S. embassy gave an explanation but opposition analyst continue to claim U.S. stand with opposition. Can you categorically confirm or deny? And then I have another question. Thank you.

MR MILLER: I will just say that, no, we do not take a side on internal political matters.

QUESTION: Thank you so much. I’ll be very short. Do you know – just to explain now a big festival in Indian subcontinent going on, it’s called Durja Puja. This is an annual Hindu festival, and last five days is very important for this Durja Puja. And all the opposition party, the acting chief of BNP, Tarique Rahman, who is convicted and a fugitive, described by the – by former U.S. diplomat as a symbol of violent politician in Bangladesh. And they are asking to come their violent supporter to Dhaka to seize the Dhaka on the date of 28th, this day after tomorrow. It is the biggest – end of this biggest festival, Hindu community. And they have track record for criminal violation and attacking Hindu population with arson and burning the bus and families and also making (inaudible). So what is your concern on that? Thank you.

MR MILLER: I will take that back and get you a comment. Nick, go ahead. And then Janne, we’ll come to you next.

QUESTION: Thank you. I want to go back to the Chinese foreign minister visit here.

MR MILLER: Yeah, yeah.

QUESTION: I know you don’t want to get ahead of the meetings, but at the UN Secretary Blinken said he’s going to be speaking with the foreign minister on ways to prevent the conflict in the Mideast from spreading. What, if any, specific asks are going to be made in that respect during the meetings here?

MR MILLER: So what I expect is that Secretary Blinken will continue a conversation he started with Director Wang when he had the occasion to speak to him while we were on this trip to the Middle East. He called him when we were in Saudi Arabia to say that China should use whatever ability it has, as an influential power, to urge calm in the region.

We know China has relationships with a number of countries in the region, and we would urge them to use those relationships, the lines of communications they have, to urge calm and stability. We don’t think that increased instability benefits the United States; it doesn’t benefit China; it certainly doesn’t benefit the people of the region.

QUESTION: Can I ask one on —

MR MILLER: Janne, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matt. I have a question on the Russia, North Korea, and China. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov told reporters that arms deals between North Korea and Russia were groundless and that the United States had made false report without evidence. Also Russia claims that the UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea are meaningless. How will you refute this?

MR MILLER: With respect to the last, it’s interesting to hear them claim that they are meaningless, given that Russia voted for those very resolutions that impose sanctions on North Korea.

I will say that our assessment has not changed, that we have seen the flow of weapons between Russia and North Korea. We believe that those violate UN Security Council resolutions. But that said, we will continue to act to support our allies in the region, in Asia. And with respect to Ukraine, we will continue to provide them the weapons they need, the security assistance that they need to defend themselves, including a package that we announced today.

Abbie and then Michel, I’ll come to you next.

QUESTION: Follow up, though. Will the Secretary Blinken raise the issue of China’s role in the UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea at the meeting with Wang Yi?

MR MILLER: I am sure that North Korea will be on the agenda and I wouldn’t want to comment any more specifically in advance.

Abbie, go ahead.

QUESTION: Going back to the Middle East, two questions. The UN humanitarian coordinator on the ground there said that there is nowhere safe for civilians to go in Gaza. Do you disagree with that statement? And what is the latest on U.S. efforts to create safe zones?

MR MILLER: I will say that we are working very hard with our partners in the region – it’s one of the things that Ambassador Satterfield is working on – to ensure that civilians can be protected from harm. It’s the subject of ongoing discussions. I don’t have any updates to offer other than to say it’s something that he continues to work on.

QUESTION: And there were reports today that U.S. and Qatar have reached an agreement to – for Qatar to revisit their relationship with Hamas after this is all over. Do you have any comment on that? Is that —

MR MILLER: I saw the report. I can’t comment on a private diplomatic negotiation. I will note two things: When the Secretary was in Qatar, he said publicly that ultimately no country can continue to carry on as – with business as usual with Qatar as they did before the – I’m sorry, business as usual with Hamas as they did before the October 7th attacks. That’s a message he delivered in all of his travels through the region.

That said, we are very appreciative of the role that Qatar has played in helping secure the release of hostages and work to continue to secure the release of hostages, and we are very appreciative for their work in that regard.

Michel and we’ll wrap it up there.

QUESTION: I have two questions.

MR MILLER: Alex, I’ll come back to you. I forgot I – yeah, go ahead. Sorry, Michel.

QUESTION: First, does the U.S. support the French president’s proposal to form an international coalition similar to the D-ISIS coalition to fight Hamas and other extremist groups in the region?

MR MILLER: That’s an issue that we will discuss directly with the French Government, but certainly we welcome the work of any government to try and ensure that Hamas cannot continue to operate, carry out terrorist attacks the way it did on October 7th.

QUESTION: And second, are there any considerations to withdraw the UNIFIL forces from the south of Lebanon?

MR MILLER: So I’m not aware of any such plans at this time. The United States remains committed to UNIFIL’s mandate of monitoring the cessation of hostilities and the Blue Line generally. UNIFIL’s independence and freedom of movement is critical to its ability to fulfill its mission.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR MILLER: And Alex and we’ll wrap there.

QUESTION: (Inaudible.) Any updates for us on the RFE/RL reporter’s situation? Have you heard back from the Russian Government?

MR MILLER: We —

QUESTION: (Inaudible) to expedite —

MR MILLER: We have not yet been officially notified by the Russian Government and they have not yet responded to our requests for consular access. We continue to make those requests to consular access and hope that they will be granted.

QUESTION: Thank you. And today is Evan Gershkovich’s birthday. Has there been any attempt to —

MR MILLER: I’m sorry, what?

QUESTION: Evan Gershkovich’s birthday is today. Have you guys reached out to him in jail? I know ambassador met with him last week.

MR MILLER: Yeah, the ambassador met with him, and we will continue to have conversations with him when we do have consular visits, and we continue to press for his release.

QUESTION: And finally on Karabakh, you know that the meeting between Azerbaijan and Armenian leaders was supposed to take place in Brussels but canceled – second time, actually, this been canceled. I’m just wondering, given all the latest developments and also, we have Iran in the picture, is there – what is your hope for the Washington-backed peace process? Is it a distant dream at this point, or —

MR MILLER: We continue to think that it is in the interests of the two parties, it is interest in the region – it is in the interests of the region, and it is in the interests of the broader world that those two parties reach a peace agreement, and we’ll continue to push it.

I’ll leave it there. Thanks, everyone.

(The briefing was concluded at 2:20 p.m.)

Department Press Briefing – October 23, 2023

HomeDepartment Press Briefing – October 23, 2023

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Department Press Briefing – October 23, 2023

Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson

Washington, D.C.

October 23, 2023

Article Index

1:24 p.m. EDT

MR MILLER: Good afternoon, everyone. I don’t have any opening comments today, so Matt.

QUESTION: Really? You have nothing at the top?

MR MILLER: I have lots on my mind, lots to say, but I’ll let you start.

QUESTION: Okay. Well, why don’t you go ahead and —

MR MILLER: No, I’ll let you start with a question first.

QUESTION: Lots on your mind, what do you have? What’s on your mind?

MR MILLER: I want —

QUESTION: All right.

MR MILLER: Start with a question, and then I’ll follow.

QUESTION: Can I go through just two things real brief, and then we can get into the Middle East?

MR MILLER: Sure.

QUESTION: One, do you have anything on the extension of the detention of the RFE reporter in Russia?

MR MILLER: I do. So I would say that we are deeply concerned about her pre-trial detention. We have requested consular access; so far it has not been granted. We will continue to press for it. And we have asked the Russian Government for more information on her situation.

QUESTION: Okay. And is it correct you still have not gotten any access?

MR MILLER: We have not gotten – we have not even been officially notified of her arrest by the Russian Government.

QUESTION: Gotcha, all right.

MR MILLER: But we are aware of the reports. And so because of that, we are communicating with her attorneys and we have requested consular access.

QUESTION: Okay. Secondly, on Türkiye and Sweden, President Erdogan submitted a bill to the Turkish parliament today to ratify Sweden’s accession to NATO. Do you have anything to say about that?

MR MILLER: Yeah, we welcome that step. Obviously, we have been calling for ratification of Sweden’s accession for some time. And we look forward to that bill being considered in the Turkish parliament and passed as soon as possible.

QUESTION: Okay. Now on to the Middle East. I want to go back to something that the Secretary addressed last week and over the – or tried to address. I’m not sure he actually did address it. But that is the question of whether you guys believe that Israel has been – so far in its response to the attacks of October 7th, been responding in – been adhering to the international rules, international laws of war, international humanitarian regulations.

When the Secretary said there’ll be plenty of time to work that all out, does that mean that you guys have not made any kind of a determination at all in terms of what they’re doing?

MR MILLER: No, we have not made any kind of formal determination, but it’s a matter we are in close communication with our Israeli counterparts. The President has discussed this with Israeli leadership. The Secretary has discussed this with Israeli leadership. And we’ve talked about it publicly, the fact that we believe it’s important that Israel comply with all laws of war. That is the responsibility of democracies. It’s the responsibility of all countries. And we’ll continue to make that clear to them.

I do, as always when asked about this question, do think it’s important to remind people of the context, which is that Hamas continues to embed itself inside the civilian population. Hamas continues to put legitimate military targets inside civilian infrastructure and use the civilians of Gaza as human shields. We know that Israel does notify civilians when it plans to conduct air strikes, say, against residential buildings, and gives those civilians an opportunity to vacate the premises. But we will continue to work through this question with them.

QUESTION: Right. I’m not saying that any of that is not true. I’m just wondering if you guys have made any kind of a determination, whether it’s preliminary or not, about whether the – I mean, there have been – granted, what happened on October 7 was absolutely horrific. But in the response, there have been many, many civilian casualties. So you guys have not yet made a determination?

MR MILLER: We have —

QUESTION: And when you say that you’re talking about it with the Israelis, are you telling them that you think that they’ve gone too far? Obviously, Hamas went —

MR MILLER: We have not made that determination and we have not communicated that to the Israeli Government. What we have said to the Israeli Government is the importance of, when they carry out their military operations, of doing so in a way that complies with international law and —

QUESTION: Yeah, yeah, but —

MR MILLER: – let me add something – and doing so in a way that protects civilian lives to the maximum extent possible.

QUESTION: Okay. But do you think that they’ve done that so far?

MR MILLER: That is the – that is what we have called on them to do. I am not in a position to sit here and assess every single strike from this podium. As the Secretary —

QUESTION: I don’t think anyone is asking you to assess every single strike.

MR MILLER: Well, I know. Let me – let me – as the Secretary said —

QUESTION: But in general.

MR MILLER: – there will be plenty of ability to assess that —

QUESTION: Is there a reason to be – is there reason to be concerned?

MR MILLER: Obviously, there is reason to be concerned. Every time there is a civilian death, we mourn the loss of every civilian death, whether it be a Palestinian civilian or whether it be an Israeli civilian. But again, you have to look at these strikes and you have to look at their operations in the context that I just said, where you have legitimate military targets that are embedded in civilian infrastructure. So it is in a very, extremely unfortunate byproduct of this campaign that there are civilians that are unfortunately harmed and civilians that are killed, which is why we’re working to establish areas inside Gaza where civilians can be safe from harm.

QUESTION: All right, understood. Last one. In terms of the release of hostages, it is correct, right, that you guys are still working with the Qataris, the Egyptians, the Turks, the Israelis, whoever, to get more of the hostages out? Is there any update you can provide us on that?

MR MILLER: There’s no update I can provide. I will say that from the opening hours of – or the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks of the – of October 7th, one of the top priorities for the United States Government, one of the top priorities for Secretary Blinken, has been to secure the release of all hostages held inside Gaza. It was one of the – as you remember, as you were on the Secretary’s recent trip through the region, it was something he raised in every one of his meetings, most particularly in his meeting with Qatari counterparts. And it’s something he’s continued to raise. He spoke with the prime minister of Qatar yesterday to thank him for his help, for Qatar’s help, in securing the release of two hostages on Friday. And it continues to be one of our top priorities to secure the release of other hostages.

As for any details, we don’t – because of the delicate and very sensitive nature of this entire issue, we don’t find it productive to our objective to secure their release to talk about it – to talk about the details publicly, but it is something we are actively working on.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Can I get a follow-up on that?

MR MILLER: Let me go to – I’ll go to Humeyra and then —

QUESTION: Matt, there’s been a lot of reporting that U.S. Government is basically trying to hold – hold off the Israeli ground offensive. And I know that from various U.S. officials, it’s been said that you’re not trying to tell them how to do – or like what to do, when to do. But, I mean, can I just ask you: Is the United States advising Israel to hold off on the ground operation?

MR MILLER: I’m not going to get into the details of our private conversations with the Israeli Government, with the Israeli leadership. What I’ll say: in all of our conversations we continue to talk to them about the importance of having meaningful goals, meaningful objectives, and a plan to achieve those objectives. We’ve been engaged in a number of levels. The Pentagon has been engaging in a – in military-to-military channels about what their operations might look like. But beyond that, I wouldn’t want to go into details other than to say that, ultimately, these are decisions that Israel has to make.

QUESTION: Right. But you can’t also deny that that’s not what you’re doing, either?

MR MILLER: I don’t want to say anything other than what I just said about our private conversations.

QUESTION: Right. Do you know – do you know, based on the intense conversations that the Secretary has had and President Biden has had – do you know if Israel is ready to go ahead with its ground offensive?

MR MILLER: Again, those are decisions that Israel has to make for itself. They are the country that suffered this brutal terrorist attack and is suffering ongoing terrorist attacks from Gaza. Rockets continue to launch from Gaza targeting Israeli civilians. So these are decisions that they have to make. We are in close consultation with them. But I don’t want to speak to those private conversations.

QUESTION: Well —

QUESTION: Can I just follow up real quick?

QUESTION: Can I follow up here?

MR MILLER: Shaun. I’ll work around. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Just briefly, an aside to that. Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, said that he expects EU leaders to work toward a call for a humanitarian pause in what’s happening in Gaza to bring in some aid. Is the United States in conversations with the Europeans about that? And is it – would the United States support such a call?

MR MILLER: We are in conversations with the Europeans about this question of getting humanitarian aid in, and we are conversations with the Government of Israel and the Government of Egypt about how best to get humanitarian aid in.

But I think what this question – whether you call it a pause or whether you call it a ceasefire, you have to think about what that would mean in this context when Israel has suffered this terrorist attack and Israel continues to suffer ongoing terrorist attacks. There are rockets, as I said a moment ago, that continue to be launched from Gaza targeting Israel. Any ceasefire would give Hamas the ability to rest, to refit, and to get ready to continue launching terrorist attacks against Israel. You can understand perfectly clearly why that’s an intolerable situation for Israel, as it would be an intolerable situation for any country that has suffered such a brutal terrorist attack and continues to see the terrorist threat right on its border.

So while we – what we will continue to do with respect to this question is focus on getting humanitarian assistance into Gaza. We’ve seen deliveries go in for the past three days, and our special envoy on the ground, David Satterfield, is working intensively to establish ongoing mechanisms for the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and we’re working to establish places where civilians can be safe from harm inside Gaza.

QUESTION: And has that been communicated to the Europeans as it does its —

MR MILLER: We have had those conversations – in all our diplomatic conversations, I think we’ve been pretty clear about our policy.

QUESTION: Can I briefly follow up?

MR MILLER: Go ahead, Jen.

QUESTION: Thanks, Matt. On the hostages who were released last week, do you have any updates on how they’re doing, their status? Will they be coming back to the United States?

MR MILLER: In terms of their – of both their medical status or what their travel situation might be, I will let them speak to that. I don’t think it should be the position of – or the business of the United States Government to speak to what private individual citizens have to do.

QUESTION: So they’re still in Israel?

MR MILLER: I will – yeah, I will say that the Secretary had the chance to speak to them on Saturday, found them to be in good condition, in good spirits in his conversation. As to whether they intend to stay or travel back, I’ll let them speak to that.

QUESTION: Can I —

QUESTION: And then on the Rafah Crossing negotiations, where is Satterfield right now?

MR MILLER: Last I checked at – I guess it’s around 8:30 Israel time, he is in Israel. He has been involved, as I said, in conversations with the Government of Israel and with the Government of Egypt about trying to effectuate two things: number one, to get sustained aid into Gaza through Rafah. We saw the first convoy of trucks go on Saturday. We saw a second convoy of trucks go on Sunday. There was a third convoy that went in today.

And he’s been working on a sustained delivery mechanism, I said, with the Government of Israel and the Government of Egypt – I should have also mentioned with the United Nations – to ensure that humanitarian aid can continue to flow in. And then at the same time, he’s been working with those two governments and with the UN to ensure that the U.S. civilians who are in Rafah – or in Gaza who are stuck there, as well as other foreign nationals, can come out through the Rafah Crossing.

QUESTION: And then lastly, on the uptick in Houthi attacks towards Israel, do you see them as actually targeting Israel? And do you see Iran as directing these attacks or just facilitating them?

MR MILLER: So I wouldn’t – I don’t want to speak to assessment of what they might be targeting. I’ll leave it to the Pentagon to offer any assessments that they have on that question. I will say that we are concerned about an increase in attacks by Iranian proxies in the region, whether they be targeting U.S. interests or whether they be targeting other interests in the region. We hold Iran accountable for those attacks.

And as the Secretary said yesterday when he was interviewed, it’s something that we are preparing for and are ready to respond to if necessary.

QUESTION: So you see Iran as directing these?

MR MILLER: I didn’t say they’re directing. Whether they’re directing them or not, these are militias that they have sponsored, and they are responsible for them.

QUESTION: Can I —

MR MILLER: Go ahead. I’ll get – I’ll come to you, Said.

QUESTION: I wanted to clarify on your answer to Matt about the assessment or not assessment of compliance with international law. Are you saying that, without making a legal determination, you’re basically assuming that when the Israelis strike in Gaza they are hitting military targets, even though they’ve essentially destroyed Gaza City with their almost unprecedented airstrike campaign, yes?

MR MILLER: I am going to use – I’m going to use my own words. And I can restate them, but the words I used, which are – you have to remember the context in which Israel is carrying out those strikes, and that is against an opponent, a terrorist organization, that has embedded its infrastructure inside civilian buildings, in schools, in hospitals, under schools, under hospitals, inside residential apartment buildings. So Israel has a legitimate military – has a legitimate right to carry out military obligations targeting a foreign terrorist organization. It should do that in a way that minimizes, to the maximum extent possible, civilian harm. That’s what we’ve made clear to them.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Follow-up on Qatar. Is the U.S. hoping that Qatar is going to play a role in releasing further hostages?

MR MILLER: Absolutely. We have made that clear publicly. We have talked – as I said, really since the immediate aftermath of the attacks on October 7th, one of the first calls the Secretary made was to the prime minister of Qatar. We then had a follow-up meeting in Qatar during his trip to the region, where we talked about what – if there was anything that Qatar could do to secure the release of hostages, we would welcome them doing that. You heard the Secretary thank the Government of Qatar for their work when he stood at this podium on Friday, and we continue to work with Qatar to try and secure the release of all hostages.

QUESTION: What is – sorry – what is the State Department’s assessment about, I guess, what is in it for Qatar? Why is this in their interests to help us secure the American hostages?

MR MILLER: Qatar is a longtime partner of ours who is responding to our request, because I think they believe that innocent civilians ought to be freed.

QUESTION: One last question, if I may. Tomorrow, what is the Secretary hoping to – what is he hoping to see happen at the UN tomorrow?

MR MILLER: I will defer that question until tomorrow. Our work with regards to what happens at the United Nations is still ongoing.

QUESTION: Matt, there are some reports that the Red Cross is on its way to retrieving 50 dual nationals in southern Gaza. Have you seen those reports, and can you confirm they’re true?

MR MILLER: I’ve seen those reports. I can’t confirm them. Again, because this is such a delicate –

QUESTION: Cannot?

MR MILLER: I’m sorry, cannot confirm them. I cannot. I thought I said “can’t,” but I might have misspoke. I cannot confirm them. Again, because this is such a delicate situation, when we’re talking about actual lives at stake here, I don’t think it’s productive for us to talk about any of the details of our work. But we do want to see all the hostages released. We want to see them released unconditionally, and we want to see them released as soon as possible.

QUESTION: I understand all of those things, including the delicacy surrounding the discussions. But can you – what can you say about what Hamas may be getting for the release of these hostages? Can you confirm, first of all, that they’re making specific demands for their release?

MR MILLER: As far as I’m aware, Hamas is not getting anything in return for the release of these hostages.

QUESTION: No safe haven, no money, no prisoner exchanges? They’re doing it —

MR MILLER: No, no. They’re – we have not released any prisoners; the Government of Israel has not released any prisoners. I’m not aware of any intention to release any prisoners. We have called on Hamas to do this because they should not be holding innocent civilians hostage – not just men, but women, children, elderly people. And we’ve impressed upon all of our partners who have relationships with Hamas or have influence with Hamas that they should use that influence to the maximum extent possible to press for the release of all these hostages.

QUESTION: So to be clear, you’re not aware that Hamas is getting anything – via third parties or anybody else – in exchange for the release of the hostages to date?

MR MILLER: No. No.

QUESTION: Over the weekend, Secretary Blinken said that Hamas was blocking the exit of American citizens in Gaza through Rafah. What leverage does the U.S. have – first of all, are there conversations going on with Hamas about securing the release of those American citizens in Gaza?

MR MILLER: So let me back up and say what it – explain what it is that happened, and then I’ll get to the question. So Rafah gate opened for the first time on Saturday to allow the delivery of humanitarian assistance in. There were a number of civilians – some American citizens, but I think also other civilians, foreign nationals of other countries – who came to the Gaza side of the Rafah Crossing to attempt to get out.

We were in conversation with the Government of Egypt, as we have been for some time, about being able to process those American citizens if they were able to get through the Gaza side and to the Egyptian side of the crossing. None of them were able to because the reports we were given on the ground is that Hamas was there blocking anyone from coming through the gate from the Gaza side out to the Egyptian side.

So we are not in direct conversation with Hamas, but we have been sending messages to Hamas through a number of partners – I think we’ll leave it at that – that we do want to see American citizens able to leave through the Rafah Crossing.

QUESTION: Is that through the Qataris, or somebody else?

MR MILLER: I don’t want to get into the details of —

QUESTION: Okay. Is there any expectation that you might see movement on that front, anything —

MR MILLER: I don’t want to say an expectation, but it is our very sincere hope that they would be able to leave in the coming days. It’s something that Ambassador Satterfield is working intensively on. As I’ve said, he’s working to get aid going in through the Rafah Crossing, and American citizens and other foreign nationals coming out.

QUESTION: I have questions on other topics. I’ll let –

MR MILLER: Okay. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Going back to Rafah, yes, the third convoy has gone in. Israeli officials have noted, other publications have noted, that you need upwards of 1,100 truck deliveries per week. Is the U.S. expectating that the pace of aid delivery is going to ramp up? And I have a couple of follow-ups.

MR MILLER: We are working on a sustained mechanism to ensure that aid comes through the Rafah Crossing consistently. You’re right that we do not think the delivery of one convoy, two convoys, three convoys is sufficient; we want to see sustained traffic going through Rafah, delivering humanitarian assistance, and the exact mechanism of how we do that is something that Ambassador Satterfield has been working on with the Government of Egypt, the Government of Israel, and the United Nations.

QUESTION: Haaretz is reporting that Hamas —

MR MILLER: Who is?

QUESTION: — Haaretz —

MR MILLER: Okay.

QUESTION: — is reporting that Hamas wants to see fuel deliveries coming in. You have hospitals inside Gaza saying that they need fuel specifically to keep the hospitals operating. Israel, understandably, does not want fuel going in because of the high risk of diversion. What can be done to ameliorate the suffering of people inside Gaza if the Israelis have a legitimate view that the fuel could be used to launch further attacks against them?

MR MILLER: That is an issue that we are discussing now with Israeli authorities. The humanitarian organizations that are operating inside Gaza to distribute the humanitarian assistance that we have flowing in from Rafah need to have the ability to do so; they need fuel to be able to do so. Fuel is important for the desalination of water; it’s important to the provision of medical care. As you said, the Israelis do have legitimate concerns about the diversion of any fuel to Hamas. You can understand why they would be concerned about that, and so that’s one of the issues that Ambassador Satterfield is working through.

QUESTION: And then finally, there’s also some reporting that apparently Türkiye has expelled a Hamas political leader. Who is this person? Was this person expelled on the U.S.’s advice? Do you know where this person is? How significant is this?

MR MILLER: I’ve seen those reports. I don’t have any information about them at this time.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matt. You said that Hamas embeds itself among the civilian population and they use hospitals and schools to launch attacks. So is this a U.S. intelligence assessment, applies to this current war, that actually the rockets that have been fired are from hospitals and schools?

MR MILLER: I’m not speaking to any specific intelligence assessment about a rocket that’s been fired in the past few days, but it is longstanding knowledge, not just from U.S. assessments but from other assessments, that Hamas does embed its infrastructure inside civilian populations.

QUESTION: Okay. By definition, you define Hamas as a terrorist organization. You actually design them as a terrorist organization, so you don’t expect them to abide by any rules. But the United States does, because you respect international law and you hold human rights very high up. So how do you assure civilians in Gaza that the United States is doing everything possible to make sure that the causalities that we have seen, the 5,000 of the civilians – that actually you did everything possible to make sure that we are not going to see another death climbing upward this number? And can you confirm – among this 5,000, do you have any assessment of how many Hamas fighters were killed?

MR MILLER: I do not have those estimates. But in terms of what the United States has done, let me just point you to the work that we have been doing in the past week. The Secretary traveled extensively through the region. At the end of that trip, he returned to Israel, after meeting with Arab leaders, to work with Israel to develop a plan to get humanitarian assistance in and to establish safe areas inside Gaza where civilians could go to be safe from harm.

And so there was a great deal of work by the Secretary first and then by the President of the United States, who flew to Israel to cement that agreement with Prime Minister Netanyahu and then in a phone conversation from Air Force One on his way home with President al-Sisi of Egypt. So the United States has been working overtime, first at the Secretary’s level, then at the President, and most recently with Ambassador Satterfield, who is on the ground to ensure that we are getting humanitarian assistance in for – to civilians inside Gaza, that we are establishing these safe areas where they can be safe from harm. And then, as I said, we’ve made clear on a number of occasions with – both publicly and in our conversations with our Israeli counterparts – that their military operations need to be carried out in a way that, to the maximum extent possible, protects civilians from harm.

Said.

QUESTION: Do you – sorry, I have two more, quickly. One is the UN’s saying that basically more than 50 percent of Gaza’s homes have been destroyed, so that means one million plus are homeless.

QUESTION: 1.4.

QUESTION: So what’s the next plan for – we’re talking now about humanitarian aid getting in through Rafah Crossing, but we’re talking about one million people who cannot go back to their homes. Is this – any plan? What’s the prospect for them? Where are they going to go?

MR MILLER: Again, we are working with Israel to develop a mechanism to – or to develop safe areas inside Gaza where civilians can be protected from harm. We’re also working with Israel to develop a mechanism that would help protect medical facilities, humanitarian sites, including areas of civilian shelter, UN facilities, distribution points, including for water and crossing points, and humanitarian conveys that include supplies and/or people.

So we are – actively work on that question, knowing that – again, you have to remember the context. Israel was the victim of a horrific terrorist attack. They have the right, they have the obligation to defend themselves, to defend themselves militarily, as any country would against a terrorist organization that launched that attack. But in that context, we are working with Israel to ensure that civilians are protected to the greatest extent possible and humanitarian aid can flow there.

QUESTION: But can you tell us about —

MR MILLER: One more, and then let me go to Said.

QUESTION: Yeah, sure. Can you tell us about a meeting the Secretary had with the Arab and Muslim community in the State Department today? Did the meeting take place?

MR MILLER: Yes. The Secretary has met – either has met or is meeting this afternoon today – with leaders of the Palestinian and Arab American communities, as well as meeting with Jewish American community groups.

QUESTION: Okay, thank you.

QUESTION: Just to follow up on the kind of questions that have already been asked – now, you’re saying that Israel has a legitimate whatever to strike anywhere that they feel that Hamas fighters might be there. Suppose, assuming, that you have Hamas fighters or Hamas operatives in every single building in Gaza. So they have the right to strike every single building in Gaza?

MR MILLER: I don’t want to go into assumptions or hypotheticals. I would say —

QUESTION: Right. But that —

MR MILLER: I would repeat what I said before —

QUESTION: Right. But that’s their assumption.

MR MILLER: — which is if there is a legitimate – no, I’m not granting your assumption. If there is a legitimate military target, they have the right to strike it, yes —

QUESTION: Okay.

MR MILLER: — and do so in a way that, to the maximum extent possible, minimizes civilian harm.

QUESTION: So let me ask you about a specific target: Al-Quds Hospital. Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza, one of the biggest hospitals and so on. Israel has been asking people to vacate it. There are people on dialysis, there are sick people that cannot leave, and so on. Do you consider that to be a legitimate target if Israel deems it necessary to strike it?

MR MILLER: So again, I don’t know the situation. I’m not in a position —

QUESTION: All right. Okay.

MR MILLER: Said, don’t interrupt – let me finish. I’m not in a position to sit here and offer an assessment from this podium of whether there is Hamas infrastructure embedded in that hospital or not. I will say as a general – my – the general principle that I have outlined stands, which is that they have a right to strike legitimate military targets, do so in a way that minimizes civilian harm. But as I just said, we are working to develop a mechanism to help protect medical facilities and other humanitarian sites.

QUESTION: Okay. The President the other day said that Hamas must pay a price. Now, we have had 5,000 killed – we don’t know exactly how many people dead. There may be another thousand under the rubble and so on. Among them, it is alleged that 2,100, 2,200 children and so on were killed. What is the price? What ought to be the price? Do you have, like, a figure that you can throw out or anyone, any expert, can have a figure on what that price ought to be?

MR MILLER: Let me say two things about that. Number one, you mentioned the loss of civilian life, and most acutely the loss of children who have died. You – I think you heard the Secretary speak to this yesterday on television, which is that we mourn the loss of every civilian life equally. He spoke to this, I think, quite personally yesterday that when he sees civilians who have died, children who have died – whether they be Palestinians, whether they be Israelis – that he feels the loss of all those civilians and he feels them equally, that every life has equal worth whether they be Israeli, whether they be Palestinian, whether they be from any other country.

So that is where we start from as an operating principle. That said, Israel has the right to conduct military operations. You talked – asked what – the question is what’s the price. Israel’s goal is not – or the goal that Israel has announced it is undertaking is to prevent Hamas from being able to operate inside Gaza with impunity any longer, for Gaza to be a safe haven where it can continue to launch deadly terrorist attacks against Israel. We think that is a legitimate goal. It is the kind of goal we would have as the United States. It’s the goal that any country would have if they had a terrorist organization operating in such close proximity to major population centers with a history – a demonstrated history – in the last two weeks of launching such deadly attacks.

QUESTION: On the West Bank, my last question: Israel attacked a mosque from the air, bombed a mosque, killing two people, whatever, three people, saying that they were – it was a preemptive strike to prevent a terror attack and so on. Do you agree with – do you believe the Israelis? Let me ask you.

MR MILLER: Again, I cannot offer an assessment about any individual strike from this podium.

QUESTION: All right. Okay.

MR MILLER: I will say – I will say the general principle stands, is that we support Israel’s ability to launch strikes targeting legitimate military objectives. That includes places where Hamas or other militants, other terrorist organizations are operating, and we expect them to do so in line with international law.

QUESTION: Are you concerned about the West Bank going – completely deteriorating, the situation there?

MR MILLER: We have great concerns about instability in the region, including in the West Bank. We’ve made those concerns clear. The Secretary made those concerns clear as he traveled the region last week.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR MILLER: Alex.

QUESTION: Thanks, Matt. Staying on the region, your current military support for Ukraine – there are media speculations that some of the weapons that U.S. is planning to sell to Israel have been originally allocated for Ukraine or you were planning to send to Ukraine. Is there any validity to those concerns and anything you can say about that?

MR MILLER: So I can’t speak to individual weapon systems before we’ve announced what we’re providing to Israel as a result of its request, and of course with specific drawdown packages that we will make to Ukraine in the future. I will say, as a general principle, there is very little overlap between what Israel has requested and what it needs and what Ukraine has requested and what it needs. And to the extent there is any overlap, we are going to work as hard as we can to make sure that we can supply both countries what it needs to defend itself. But as the President made clear last week, that also means that we need Congress to act to pass the supplemental request that we have sent up.

QUESTION: Thank you. Separate topic. Iran today is hosting five-nation summit. Do you have any reaction to some – an expectation? As you know, Türkiye and Russia are part of it, and also they’re discussing Armenia-Azerbaijan. Any comment on that?

MR MILLER: So with respect to the Armenia-Azerbaijan question of it, we welcome any good-faith engagements that contribute to peace and stability for the people of the South Caucasus regardless of where those talks happen or who is hosting them. But that being said, we recognize the South Caucasus’ delicate geographic position regarding Iran and Russia, but we have not found these countries to be reliable partners, to understate matters.

QUESTION: Thank you. And my final question – thanks. My final question, just to go back to original question Matt asked about RFE/RL reporter, can you give us a little bit of sense of the communication channels you have used so far to reach out to Russians and to ask for details about her arrest?

MR MILLER: I —

QUESTION: Has the ambassador been invited to —

MR MILLER: I’m not going to say specifically, but they have been channels from our Embassy in Moscow to the Russian Government .

QUESTION: Do you – thank you. Do you have any deadline on the Russians? This is about a U.S. citizen, a mother of two who actually, by the way, went to Russia for —

MR MILLER: We obviously want to see consular – or consular access granted as soon as possible.

QUESTION: Are you considering any legal action if Russia does not get back to you a little bit —

MR MILLER: I wouldn’t want to preview any steps we would take —

QUESTION: There is the sanctions, or any others?

MR MILLER: Again, I never want to preview any steps we would take before we might take them.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Israel?

MR MILLER: Go ahead, Elizabeth.

QUESTION: Just to check, on the up to 600 Americans in Gaza, how many have notified the State Department that they want to depart? Or is it your understanding that at least a majority want to leave?

MR MILLER: I don’t have an exact number. It’s a subset of that number that has been in contact with us with – requesting information. We have supplied information to some of those. There have been periods where we thought Rafah might open and might be – might be – it might be possible for United States citizens to transit out of Gaza through Rafah – and we’ve provided it to them. But it’s always hard to know what number of the American citizens who have requested information from us at any given time actually want to leave.

We are supplying information to everyone who – because in this situation – this isn’t a situation, say, for example, where we’re providing charter flights out where we know X person wants to get on the charter flight at this date. It’s a much more fluid situation. So we have a list of Americans who have registered with us, and when we have any information about the possibility of transiting outside of Gaza, we’re providing it to all of them.

QUESTION: Okay. And then, given the Israeli concerns about the fuel being repurposed for military activities, have you seen any evidence of Hamas diverting the initial aid deliveries?

MR MILLER: So we have been in conversation with the United Nations about this. United Nations agencies are the ones who are delivering the humanitarian assistance once it gets into Gaza, and to this date they have not reported to us any signs of diversion.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thanks, Matthew. Can you confirm that China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi is expected to visit Washington this week?

MR MILLER: I don’t have any announcements to make, but stay tuned.

QUESTION: Okay. And will the United States reconsider Qatar’s Major-Non-NATO-Ally status if it fails to deliver on hostage negotiations?

MR MILLER: Qatar has already been – has already been quite productive in helping with the release of two hostages. The Secretary thanked them for that work. That work is ongoing as it pertains to the other hostages that remain. So we are quite appreciative of the work that they have done, and that work is ongoing.

QUESTION: And how is the U.S. and its partners ensuring that none of the aid to Gaza falls in Hamas’s hands?

MR MILLER: Again, the United Nations is responsible for the delivery of humanitarian assistance to civilians inside Gaza once it transits over the Rafah Crossing into Gaza. They have a number of mechanisms that they have set up to ensure that it doesn’t – that it does go to civilians. But they are watching very closely, we are watching very closely to see any signs of diversion to Hamas. As the President has said publicly, if Hamas does divert any of that aid, it would jeopardize the delivery of future tranches of aid. So it is very important that if Hamas really does support the Palestinian civilian population, as it claims to do, that they not divert this aid.

QUESTION: And finally, what —

MR MILLER: Let me go – I’m going to move around.

QUESTION: Okay. No problem.

MR MILLER: Shannon, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thanks, Matt. One more follow-up on the Rafah Crossing and the hundreds of Americans that are still in Gaza. Now, does the State Department feel that if Hamas was not blocking these American citizens from leaving, would they be allowed to leave, or is it multifactorial? Is Egypt still holding it up?

MR MILLER: We do believe that Egypt is ready to process American citizens if they can make it to Egyptian authorities. Hamas just has to stop blocking their exit.

QUESTION: And a quick follow-up to that: Does that extend to their immediate family members as well?

MR MILLER: We are working on trying to get American citizens, their family members, and other foreign nationals out. That’s a – it is an ongoing conversation and an ongoing process, but that is our goal.

QUESTION: And if these Americans are being detained by Hamas, if they’re being prevented from leaving, are they in a similar camp as the hostages? Will the State Department re-evaluate these cases if they can’t leave?

MR MILLER: So they’re in a different situation in that the hostages are being held captive by Hamas, right? They are detained and not being – are not allowed to go free. These other American citizens are able to move freely inside Gaza but have been unable to leave. So we’re working to – no, I get – I – no, I’m not trying to —

QUESTION: (Inaudible) hostages?

MR MILLER: I am not at all trying to minimize the situation, but it is why we are working to get them out of Gaza. It is a – it just factually a different situation than being held under armed guard as a captive. But nevertheless —

QUESTION: Do you know that these other people are being held under armed guard?

MR MILLER: I —

QUESTION: I’m not suggesting – I’m not suggesting that they’re not, but how do you know?

MR MILLER: They are being – let me put it —

QUESTION: How do you – how do you know what the conditions of their captivity is, the hostages?

MR MILLER: Let me put it this way. So —

QUESTION: As opposed to, I mean, a person who wasn’t taken from southern Israel and is in Gaza but is still not allowed to leave because Hamas is blocking them, as you said.

MR MILLER: Yeah.

QUESTION: Aren’t they also under armed guard?

MR MILLER: They are being – they are —

QUESTION: I mean, maybe not, like, right next to them, but —

MR MILLER: They are, through force of arms, being prevented from leaving Gaza.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR MILLER: Absolutely. It’s a deplorable —

QUESTION: So —

MR MILLER: Hold on. It’s a deplorable situation. It’s why we’re working to try —

QUESTION: Right.

MR MILLER: — to get them out. I’m not trying to minimize this situation at all. I’m just saying, factually, it’s a different situation than people that were taken hostage out of Israel, dragged into Gaza. And you’re right, I can’t speak to the specific conditions, but Hamas is a terrorist organization. I don’t think they’re standing outside their door just, “You can leave freely if you’d like.”

QUESTION: No, I’m not suggesting that they are. I just —

MR MILLER: Yeah.

QUESTION: I think it’s interesting that you’re making a distinction.

MR MILLER: It’s a —

QUESTION: Because if you’re being prevented from leaving, you are, like, captive.

MR MILLER: I – it is a factual distinction in the condition they are in, able to move around Gaza freely versus not able to move around Gaza. And there —

QUESTION: But you don’t know that there are – do you know that they’re free to move around Gaza?

MR MILLER: We know that there are a number of American citizens who are free to move around Gaza if they (inaudible).

Let me just —

QUESTION: Well, they have moved from, like, what, four miles from the —

MR MILLER: They can move around Gaza.

QUESTION: — close to the Rafah Crossing to where they’re staying.

MR MILLER: There have been times when we’ve said Rafah is likely to open; they’ve moved towards the crossing.

QUESTION: Right.

MR MILLER: So yes, they are.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR MILLER: They cannot get to – they cannot get to the terminal.

QUESTION: Okay. So the distinction is that? They’re not being held in, like, a basement or something like that?

MR MILLER: Yes exactly. Exactly.

QUESTION: They are – okay. Thanks.

MR MILLER: Exactly.

Were you finished, Shannon? Yeah.

QUESTION: Just on the number, do you anticipate the State Department – understanding of course that it’s a fluid situation, but give at least a ballpark of Americans in Gaza that the State Department is communicating with?

MR MILLER: I just don’t have an exact number. I’m happy to follow up on that.

QUESTION: A follow-up?

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you. On the militia groups’ attacks on the U.S. forces in Iraq, do you hold Iraqi Government accountable for these attacks on your forces in Iraq? And then will there be any response to them?

MR MILLER: I will say that these attacks – you heard the Secretary speak to this – on U.S. forces, on U.S. interests in the region, is something that we’re greatly concerned about. And without getting into too many specifics, we are taking steps to ensure that we have the ability to prepare for those attacks and ability to respond if appropriate.

QUESTION: And yesterday you updated the Travel Advisory for Iraq, and also you ordered departure of eligible personnels in both U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and also the Consulate General in Erbil. Are you concerned about attacking on your diplomatic mission in Iraq? And then do you think that the Iraqi Government is not doing enough to protect your diplomatic mission in the country?

MR MILLER: So first of all, let me say that the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and the Consulate General in Erbil remain open. We remain committed to our longstanding strategic partnership with Iraq, and we’ll continue to work through our embassy and our consulate there to strengthen that partnership. But yes, obviously, we are concerned about the safety and security of American citizens and Americans interests all throughout the region. That’s why we raised the travel – that’s why we have raised the Travel Advisories in places. It’s why we effectuated the ordered departure of some non-emergency personnel and family members, and it’s something that we continue to monitor very closely not just in Iraq but throughout the region.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: So Palestinian house ministry said that hundreds, including children, have been missing under the rubble in Gaza. Are you considering sending any rescue teams to save these people trapped under the rubble?

MR MILLER: I don’t think we have the ability to send rescue teams into the site of an armed conflict right now, where you have Hamas terrorist – the Hamas terrorist organization holding ground and legitimate attacks by Israeli security forces. I don’t think we’re in the position that we could send United States rescue teams into that sort of situation.

QUESTION: And second, do you have any update on the ongoing situation on the borders with Lebanon?

MR MILLER: I don’t, other than that we continue to see attacks by Hizballah across the border, and we’ve seen, of course, Israel respond to those attacks. One of the things that the Secretary made clear in this region is that we are concerned about the possibility of escalation of the conflict. We are concerned about the possibility of the conflict moving from Gaza to north – to southern Lebanon. And so we continue to make very clear our messages to anyone in the region who is hostile to Israel that if they are considering attacks, they should reconsider them, and that’s why the President ordered the deployment of two carrier strike groups to the Eastern Mediterranean.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matt. In the aftermath of the barbaric attack on Israel by Hamas and Palestinian terrorists with great anguish from loss, as well as with the rise of Jew hatred in America, how can President Biden justify saying on one hand that he fully supports Israel and condemns terrorism while on the other hand supporting humanitarian aid to the terrorist regime of Iran, Palestinian terrorists, terrorist organization of the Palestinian Authority, and UN agency UNRWA? And a follow-up.

MR MILLER: So the simple matter is we do not support the provision of humanitarian aid to terrorist organizations, and we make a very important distinction between the terrorist organization Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, any other terrorist organizations who are operating in that region, and the Palestinian people and other innocent civilians who themselves are often the victims of terrorism.

So we have made clear that while we support Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism, we want to do everything we can to protect innocent civilians, innocent Palestinians civilians, and that’s why we support getting humanitarian assistance to them.

QUESTION: Okay. Well, thank you, Matt. With all the – with all of the Jew hatred unleashed in the past two weeks, what more can State Department do to get the facts about the Middle East to more Americans and the world?

MR MILLER: Well, I stand here every day that I’m not traveling and hold briefings. The Secretary has had a number of conversations with the media, and we will continue to do so to make our policies clear about —

QUESTION: I was just going to say – okay, hold on.

MR MILLER: Go ahead. I’m going to take two more and then – go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matt. On Bangladesh.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Bangladesh’s political situation escalated ahead of the opposition grand rally scheduled for October 28. The regime is on action to obstruct the rally, including arresting, framing charges, and trials now rolling well into the night. According to Human Rights Watch report day before yesterday, the ruling Prime Minister Hasina herself inciting violence, and her cabinet ministers, including threats, involve the use of Russian uranium – Russian uranium – against opposition leaders. How does the State Department view this allegation? And what actions, if any, is the United States considering to address the democratic rights of the people of Bangladesh?

MR MILLER: I don’t think I have anything to say about that specific allegation. We are closely monitoring developments in Bangladesh leading up to the elections. It’s important for free and fair elections that all stakeholders are able to participate peacefully. That includes government officials, law enforcement, political parties, the election commission, the media, and of course voters themselves. And we will continue to call on all stakeholders to respect the rule of law and to refrain from violence, harassment, and intimidation.

QUESTION: One more very quick. Referring to the recent meeting with the National Security Advisor, Bangladesh ruling prime minister claimed that she told the National Security Advisor why U.S. is asking their embassy personnels’ security from the law enforces agency as U.S. is imposed sanction on their security forces? And Ambassador Peter Haas expressed concern not only for his security, the embassy personnel. You many times ask from this podium to uphold the Vienna Convention, so what is your comment on this?

MR MILLER: So I will say it again, which is that under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Bangladesh has obligations to take all appropriate steps with respect to protecting diplomatic premises and personnel, and the United States values its relationship with Bangladesh and we expect the government will take all appropriate actions to maintain the safety and security of all U.S. missions and diplomatic personnel in the country.

Did you have one more? Then we’ll finish up.

QUESTION: I was wondering if you would clarify a comment you made a short while ago about monitoring for potential Hamas diversion of the humanitarian aid. Could you clarify that process? Just the UN —

MR MILLER: So I don’t want to speak to it in detail. I will say that the UN, which is the agency that is delivering the aid, is doing monitoring, and then we have other mechanisms to monitor that I don’t think I can speak to. So I’ll end it there. Thank you.

(The briefing was concluded at 2:07 p.m.)

Department Press Briefing – October 19, 2023

HomeDepartment Press Briefing – October 19, 2023

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Department Press Briefing – October 19, 2023

Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson

October 19, 2023

1:33 p.m. EDT

MR MILLER: Good afternoon, everyone. Good to be back.

Secretary Blinken returned to Washington early this morning from an eight-day trip through the Middle East, where he met on multiple occasions with senior officials from the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, as well as leaders in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar. Over the course of his trip, he made a number of things clear: that the United States strongly supports Israel and its right to defend itself from Hamas, and that support is unwavering; that the United States supports the aspirations of the Palestinian people, who are the victims of Hamas’s acts of terrorism; and that we believe it is important to establish mechanisms to keep civilians in Gaza out of harm’s way and provide them with humanitarian assistance.

Over the course of his meetings, the Secretary pressed these two points, along with the need to secure the release of hostages and prevent the conflict from widening, to every official he met. And when he returned to Israel on Monday after his meetings with officials from other governments, he was able to deliver these messages not just on behalf of the United States but also on behalf of others in the region who agree that Israel has the right to defend itself, but also want to see innocent civilians protected.

The work we began last week is, of course, ongoing. We continue to provide Israel with the assistance it needs to defeat Hamas, and you will hear the President speak more about that tonight. We continue to work to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza. Ambassador David Satterfield, the newly appointed Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues, met with Israeli and Egyptian officials today to develop the exact mechanisms to implement the framework the Secretary negotiated with Israel on Monday, and that the President submitted yesterday when he was able to secure commitments from both Israel and Egypt.

Our work to secure the release of hostages continues to be a top priority. And of course, our messages to other countries hostile to Israel also – other countries and entities hostile to Israel continues to be clear: Do not enter this conflict.

Upon his return to Washington, the Secretary met this morning with bipartisan members of congressional leadership on the Hill to brief them on the trip and what he heard while in the region, and over the coming days he will continue —

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR MILLER: Sam, I’m going to ask you not to interrupt over the course of this briefing. I will call you – if you – I’ll finish what – my opening remarks, but just to establish a ground rule here, I will call on you for a question, but I would ask in return that you not interrupt either me or your colleagues in the media.

With that – and over the coming days, he will continue our diplomatic engagements on all these fronts.

Matt.

QUESTION: Yeah. So I want to start with something that is non-Mideast, because I want to get it out of the way at the top, and that is the arrest in Russia of a RFE journalist. Do you have anything to say about this?

MR MILLER: I do. We of course have no higher priority than the safety and security of the U.S. citizens overseas. We are aware of reports concerning the detention of Alsu Kurmasheva in Russia. Whenever a U.S. citizen is detained overseas, the department works to provide all appropriate assistance. We have not been officially notified by the Government of Russia about this arrest yet, but this is a case we have been tracking since May when the Russian Government siezed her passports and prevented her from leaving the country. We haven’t made the details of our work public until now because we thought it was not helpful to the cause to get her to leave. But this appears to be another case of the Russian Government harassing U.S. citizens, which is why we continue to have a Level 4 Travel Warning and encourage all the U.S. citizens not to travel to Russia for any reason.

QUESTION: Okay. So when you say that they have – there has been absolutely no – radio silence at least so far from the Russians about her case?

MR MILLER: That’s correct.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR MILLER: And I’ll just say one thing about this. She’s a dual citizen —

QUESTION: Yeah.

MR MILLER: — and as you’re aware, the Russian Government has refused – as often in the past – refused consular access when it comes to cases of dual citizens. So we will be seeking more information about the case.

QUESTION: Okay. Now on to the Middle East and on to – I just have one, and then I have to go. But is there any update on the situation at Rafah in terms of getting humanitarian aid in and American citizens out?

MR MILLER: So as you saw the – from – the President say on Air Force One yesterday on his trip back from Israel, he spoke with President Sisi, and President Sisi committed to opening Rafah to allow the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Ambassador Satterfield met with officials from the Government of Egypt and the Government of Israel today in Israel to negotiate the exact modalities by which we can implement the agreement that the President secured.

So over the coming days, we will – I think what you will see – can’t get into the exact timing, but we expect it to be implemented soon – details for humanitarian aid to go in, and of course if Rafah gate is open to allow humanitarian aid to go in, we will be trying to get out the American citizens who are in Gaza who want to leave.

QUESTION: Okay. Thank you.

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Can I follow up on that, Matt? Why is it only 20 trucks at this point? Do you have any firm agreement from the Egyptians to allow American citizens to leave via the Rafah crossing? Do you have an estimate on how many are trying to get out in that route?

MR MILLER: So I will say just with respect to trucks, I don’t want to speak to the – what the exact agreement will look like, because that is a matter that continues to be negotiated, that Ambassador Satterfield is on the ground negotiating. The Israelis, as they have said publicly and as Secretary Blinken said after we met with them for seven and a half hours to secure this initial agreement on Monday, the Israelis have very serious concerns about the diversion of humanitarian assistance. They’re worried that assistance that goes in will be diverted to Hamas. We are working out an agreement to ensure that that – that any deliveries can be handled appropriately. So we’ll continue to work on that. But what we have said publicly and what we have said to the Israeli Government is quite clear: We expect humanitarian assistance to be able to get in. We think it’s important that the innocent civilians in Gaza who did not start this conflict have access to food and water and medicine. That’s the commitment from the President on down. It’s what Ambassador Satterfield is working out the details of even as we speak.

QUESTION: And what is being offered to the Egyptians to try to grease the wheels on this?

MR MILLER: We’re not offering them anything. We are telling them that we have an interest in getting American citizens out, and it is our interest, it is their interest, it is the interest of every government in the region that humanitarian assistance be provided to the innocent civilians in Gaza who are not a party to this conflict.

QUESTION: Just to follow up on what’s been agreed, there’s this talk about 20 trucks being allowed – about up to 20 trucks being allowed to go through the crossing. Is it sort of limited to that and then the crossing will close, or is the plan to sort of open it and then —

MR MILLER: We want to see sustained humanitarian assistance going into Gaza for the benefit of innocent civilians. The exact discussions about how we implement that are exactly what Ambassador Satterfield is engaged in right now, so I wouldn’t want to get ahead of those discussions. But it is our intention, our goal, and what we’re working to secure is ongoing assistance to innocent civilians.

QUESTION: Why has it been so hard to get the Israelis to agree? The UN is involved. The U.S. can vouch for the fact that this is humanitarian aid coming in. Isn’t it pretty obvious that – it’s 2.2 million people in the country; they’re going to need more than this, but this is desperately needed aid. Why can’t they just let it in?

MR MILLER: I think the concern the Israeli Government has – and they’ve said this publicly and they’ve certainly said it privately to us – is that any assistance that goes in will be diverted once it’s inside Gaza, that there is not a – there’s not an Israeli military force in Gaza, there’s not a UN peacekeeping force in Gaza. The people with guns inside Gaza are Hamas. And so Hamas may try to divert this assistance and keep it from getting to the civilians who it is intended for. We think that’s a legitimate concern. We’ve made clear that this aid needs to go to innocent civilians and not Hamas. We’re going to be watching very carefully how it’s delivered because we want to be sensitive to those concerns, which we share.

QUESTION: So you have – but you do – you don’t have any way of making sure that that happens, right? So —

MR MILLER: We are working on the mechanisms for the delivery of this assistance.

Still in the region, Alex?

QUESTION: Yes. Just very quickly on that.

MR MILLER: Okay.

QUESTION: You mentioned Secretary will continue diplomatic engagements. I’m just curious: What is he hoping to achieve next couple weeks and months? And does the Secretary believe that the ground incursion is something that Israel will not be able to back off?

MR MILLER: So we’re going to let Israel speak to its military operations. It’s appropriate for them to do so. As the President said yesterday when he was in Israel, as the Secretary said when he is – was in the region, both in Israel and in other countries, it’s important that when Israel conducts its military operations that it does so in a way that protects innocent civilian life to the maximum extent possible. That is the responsible – responsibility of any democracy. It’s what differentiates us from terrorist groups like Hamas. And then your second question was – you had a second question. Remind me.

QUESTION: Yeah. What is he hoping to achieve in the next couple —

MR MILLER: Oh, so I reversed the order actually. The – well, he’s going to – he hopes to achieve the same thing that we were – have been working on since the outset of this conflict: number one, to prevent the conflict from widening. You’ve seen us, as a government, send very clear messages to other entities hostile to Israel both through the – what the President has said, what the Secretary has said, and by the fact that we have deployed two carrier strike groups to the region. We want to send a very clear message to other countries or other entities that they should not enter this conflict. The second thing we try to – are trying to do is to secure the release of hostages. There are a number of Americans who remain unaccounted for, and we know that some of those unaccounted for are hostages, and we want to secure their release. And then, of course, we want to continue to work diplomatically to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza for innocent civilians.

QUESTION: Thank you. Can you please come back to me on (inaudible)?

MR MILLER: Yeah, sure.

QUESTION: What’s the —

MR MILLER: Oh, I’ll come to you next. Let me get —

QUESTION: Actually, before (inaudible) you stopped. You said two carriers – strike carriers, Eisenhower and the Gerald Ford. So let’s say if Hizballah decided to enter the war from the north front. What – you said there’s a clear message. Does – will the U.S. be involved in a battle with Hizballah?

MR MILLER: I’m not going to speak to —

QUESTION: So what do you mean by (inaudible) message?

MR MILLER: I am not going to speak to hypotheticals down the road. But our message to any entity hostile from – to Israel has been that they should not enter this conflict. And our message to Israel and the Israeli people has been that we stand with you, and we will support you.

QUESTION: Okay. One more question —

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR MILLER: I’m going to get to everyone. People – I’m going to work —

QUESTION: Last question.

MR MILLER: Yeah.

QUESTION: The U.S. State Department on Tuesday raised its travel alert for Lebanon to Do Not Travel and also asked for American citizens to make arrangements to leave the country as soon as possible. Do you have any additional information about the situation in Lebanon? Do you think it might escalate? Do you have like – why are you asking U.S. citizens to leave as soon as possible?

MR MILLER: So we have taken that measure because we’ve seen events on the ground – let me back up and say we are constantly assessing the safety and security of our personnel in every place where we operate overseas. We are constantly assessing the safety and – of the situation on the ground so we can give appropriate travel warnings and appropriate guidance to American citizens. We took the step in Lebanon because we’ve seen increased activity there that we thought warranted it. We’ve seen a number of protests around the U.S. embassy, for example. And then earlier today we issued a worldwide caution alert where we advised U.S. citizens that due to increased tensions in various locations around – locations around the world, the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations, or violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests, the Department of State advises U.S. citizens overseas to exercise increased caution.

I think Jennifer —

QUESTION: On the matter of the American citizens, how many are unaccounted for? How many have been confirmed deceased? And has there been any progress in discussions to try to get them released?

MR MILLER: Thirty-two are deceased; eleven remain unaccounted for. With respect to our work to secure the release of hostages, that work is ongoing. It’s something we’ve spent a lot of time. The Secretary himself was focused on it while we were in the region. And others inside our building, inside our department, and others in the government have been – worked on it. But I don’t think it’s productive to talk about that effort publicly.

QUESTION: Do you still believe that they are all being held in disparate places? Is there an understanding they may have been moved? Do you have a concept of who is actually holding them right now?

MR MILLER: I don’t want to offer a public assessment of where they might be or their situation.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you. With the Worldwide Caution alert today, can you just confirm if that’s the third time that that’s happened since that Worldwide Caution system was comprised?

MR MILLER: I don’t know. I’ll be happy to check on that.

QUESTION: And also, the director of this department’s political military bureau, Josh Paul, resigned. It appeared that he felt like Israel had deferential treatment when it comes to arms sales to the IDF and checking individual units’ human rights records. Is he right?

MR MILLER: So let me say a few things about that. Number one, we understand – we expect, we appreciate – that different people working in this department have different political beliefs, have different personal beliefs, have different beliefs about what United States policy should be. In fact, we think that’s one of the strengths of this government. One of the strengths of this department is that we do have people with different opinions. We encourage them to make their opinions known.

It, of course, is the President that sets policy, but we encourage everyone, even when they disagree with our policy, to let – to make their leadership know. Secretary Blinken has spoken to this on a number of occasions, when he’s said that he welcomes people exercising the dissent channel. He finds it useful to get conflicting voices that may differ from his opinion. He takes it seriously, and it causes him to reflect on his own thinking in terms of policymaking.

But I will say, with respect to this – the specific criticism that has been aired, we have made very clear that we strongly support Israel’s right to defend itself. We are going to continue providing the security assistance that they need to defend themself. We think they have a right – not only a right but an obligation – to defend themselves against these terrorist attacks; I think any country would do that. But the President and the Secretary have spoken to this very clearly, that we expect Israel to abide by all international law in – as they defend themselves. And we’ll continue to work with them to ensure that they meet the highest standards.

QUESTION: But on a practical —

QUESTION: And so if they abided by international law —

MR MILLER: Go ahead, finish.

QUESTION: Sorry. Sorry, Matt. But on a practical level, isn’t —

QUESTION: You’re totally (inaudible) the main issue, Matt. I’m sorry. This is —

MR MILLER: Again, we’re not going to – we don’t do interruptions. Go ahead.

QUESTION: No, no. Somebody has to hold (inaudible).

QUESTION: I’m speaking.

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: I’m speaking. Hello.

QUESTION: You’re a propagandist. You’re not (inaudible). And I’m sorry —

MR MILLER: I think your colleague is asking if she – is asking a question.

QUESTION: Can you wait till I’ve asked my question?

QUESTION: Please ask your question, but you can’t say oh, we expect —

MR MILLER: You know what?

QUESTION: Are you going to interrupt —

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR MILLER: You actually don’t get to tell the people how to answer.

QUESTION: Will you disrupt every person in this room?

MR MILLER: Yeah.

QUESTION: No, no. I’m telling you —

QUESTION: Let’s have decorum here. Let’s have decorum.

QUESTION: I’m telling you you can’t get away with that.

MR MILLER: Go ahead. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Settle down.

QUESTION: Me settle down?

QUESTION: Decorum.

QUESTION: Thank you. So on a practical level, does the military aid that goes to Israel, does it have the same vetting treatment as, say, for example, Saudi Arabia or in Egypt? Like, does the Leahy Amendment apply to Israel when military aid is being vetted?

MR MILLER: All of – we comply with all applicable statutory requirements and regulatory requirements in our provision of military assistance to Israel, as we do to every other country in the world.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: May I ask a question?

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you. Thank you, Matt. Do you have any figure on the number of Palestinians dead in Gaza thus far?

MR MILLER: I have seen the reported numbers. They’re not U.S. Government figures, but I’ve – just as I’ve seen the Israel reported figures.

QUESTION: So it is close to 4,000 people that have been killed, maybe mainly civilians. What kind of protection is the United States willing to give the Palestinian civilians? I mean, obviously they are told to move from one place to another, yet they are targeted. So you keep saying that you ask of Israel that they protect civilians. Have you seen any measure by the Israeli assault thus far where it has actually taken the protection of Palestinians into consideration?

MR MILLER: We are working with the Government of Israel. This is part of Ambassador Satterfield’s charge, not to get – just to get humanitarian assistance flowing into Gaza, which is something I’ve already spoken to at length, but – not just to get humanitarian assistance flowing into Gaza, but also to establish places inside Gaza where innocent civilians can be safe from harm’s way. That work is ongoing, but it is a high priority for us, and we are in discussions with the Government of Israel about it, as well as the UN and other international bodies.

QUESTION: So do you agree with the Israeli call of the United Nations to evacuate 1.1 million Palestinians to go south?

MR MILLER: I’m not going to speak to that specific question. But I will say it is important that Palestinian civilians have the chance to get out of harm’s way. If Israel is conducting military operations in Gaza City or in other areas, it is appropriate to establish places where Palestinian civilians can be safe from military attacks. And that’s what we’re trying to do.

QUESTION: So you know that those who have actually gone south now have gone back north because they have been hit time and time and time again?

MR MILLER: What I would say to that is that is exactly why we are working to establish this area – these areas where they can be safe from harm.

QUESTION: I have a couple more questions, one of your veto at the United Nations that was cast yesterday. Why would you cast a veto on a call to end hostilities for a very brief time so you can get human assistance going through? What is – I mean, all other members of the Security Council, with the exception of Russia and England that chose to abstain, voted for such a measure.

MR MILLER: I would say a few things about that. Number one, we thought it was very unfortunate that that resolution did not recognize Israel’s right to defend itself in the face of these terrorist attacks. We think that is an important principle. I’m going to go back to what I said a minute ago, which is that Israel just suffered a massive terrorist attack, something that is 10 to 15 times the impact of 9/11 when you look at it on a per capita basis. Any country would defend —

QUESTION: But the Palestinians also suffer any time —

MR MILLER: Let me – Said. Said, I’m – Said, let me –

QUESTION: No, I’m sorry, but —

MR MILLER: Any – I’m going to answer. I’ll give you a follow-up, where you can make your point or answer your question.

QUESTION: Sure. Go ahead.

MR MILLER: Any country would defend itself in those situations. The other reason we exercised that veto is there is ongoing diplomatic work about this very question right now, the work that Ambassador Satterfield is conducting, the work that others in the region are conducting to try to establish areas where civilians can be safe from harm. At that – with that work going – with that work ongoing and with a resolution that did not exercise Israel’s right to defend itself, we thought this step we took was the appropriate one.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: So in your view, what is Israel’s end game? I mean, what we have seen is an increased assault that ends up killing a lot of civilians, and that seems to be the trajectory for the few – the next few days and so on. What is – in your view, what is Israel’s end game, or what should it be? Because you obviously are in talks with them; you talk with them at the level of the President and the level of the Secretary and State and so on. What is their end game?

MR MILLER: It’s a good question. So I was just in, with the Secretary, a number of meetings with officials from the Government of Israel, including with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and what they tell us privately is the same thing that they have said publicly, which is at the end of this conflict they want a situation where Hamas can never again govern and run Gaza in the way it has; they want to ensure that Gaza is not a place where Hamas can continue to exist and launch terrorist attacks against Israel, which we believe is a completely legitimate and appropriate position that any country would take.

We also, as the President has made clear, as the Secretary has made clear, to continue to engage with them on how best they can achieve that goal while protecting innocent civilians from harm.

QUESTION: So we’re talking about regime change, I mean, just for the lack of better words, right?

MR MILLER: I – you can call it whatever word you want, but they want Gaza not to be administered by a terrorist organization that is launching attacks that kill 1,300 innocent civilians.

QUESTION: I have one more question. I have one more question about the situation in the West Bank.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

QUESTION: Please, can I please finish my question? Thank you. I mean —

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

QUESTION: Thank you. On the situation in the West Bank, can you update us on the situation in the West Bank? Because since October 7 until now, 86 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers. There are fears that they are going to storm the camps any time, like Jenin camp, whether these reports true or not and so on. But are you prepared for such an explosion in the West Bank?

MR MILLER: So we have made clear that from the outset of this conflict, from the very first day, one of the things that we were trying to do was keep violence from spreading, to keep the conflict from spreading to other areas. So that is something we talked with President Abbas about, when the Secretary met with him twice; something we talked about with other leaders in the region, and it’ll continue to be a priority.

QUESTION: Matt.

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matt. Can you give us an update on the – what happened in the hospital? Yesterday, you said – I mean, the NSC spokesperson said we are still gathering information. Do you have any update?

MR MILLER: We are still gathering information. But based on our initial assessment. it is the assessment of the intelligence agencies of the United States Government that the explosion at the hospital was the result of a failed rocket launch by militants in Gaza.

QUESTION: And if I may, I know it’s too early to ask this question, but is there any back channel, diplomatic back channel? Are you talking to the – I know you are in contact with all the Arab leaders now. But is there any horizon for a political solution or something? Are you – how open are the Israeli now for that?

MR MILLER: A political solution with Hamas?

QUESTION: I mean – no. For the aftermath. I mean —

MR MILLER: I see. Look, it is something that we discussed with the Israeli Government when we were there. It’s something that the Secretary discussed with other leaders in the region. We are obviously in the very early days of this conflict. But it is something that everyone agrees needs to be a priority in ensuring that whatever happens to Hamas, at the end of Israel’s military operations, that something new be established. And I expect that that will be the focus of a good bit of diplomatic work over the coming weeks.

QUESTION: You mention many times that you are working very hard to not let this conflict widening. In case – I want to repeat that question about Lebanon. In case there was any engagement by any other party, whether Hizballah or others, what is the scope of your intervention here – to intercept, to stop, or what?

MR MILLER: I am not, again, going to get ahead of actual events and speculate what our reaction might be, other than to say that the President has made very clear that anyone hostile to Israel considering entering the conflict should think twice about doing so.

QUESTION: So one last question. Are you negotiating with any other countries regarding the hostage, especially with Qatar? Because —

MR MILLER: There are ongoing diplomatic engagements with respect to this question. The Secretary was personally involved in this issue when he was in the region. But I don’t think it’s productive to the outcome we’re trying to achieve to talk about those engagement publicly.

QUESTION: On how can this – another one?

QUESTION: Let me follow up on this?

MR MILLER: I’ll come – let me go here, and then I’ll come to you — to these – I’ll work this side, and then I’ll come back to you. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matt. A few questions. First, one the ceasefire, the Egyptian and the Jordanians have asked for an immediate ceasefire. The Israeli Government spokesman said that there is no ceasefire or cessation of hostiles during the time when aid is going to go through Rafah. So does this – doesn’t this put the people who are crossing the border at risk? And why can’t the United States support the position that actually, at least during this time, there will be a ceasefire?

MR MILLER: Because one of the issues that Ambassador Satterfield is in discussions with Israeli and Egyptian officials about is exactly how to open Rafah gate and ensure that humanitarian assistance can be safely delivered in. So that would include, obviously, Israel not conducting military operations in the vicinity where humanitarian assistance is flowing across – through Rafah gate into southern Gaza.

QUESTION: Okay. Just to follow up, on the Josh Paul question, isn’t the U.S. policy that U.S. weapons should not be used against civilians, especially lethal weapons. Can you assure us that U.S. weapons are not used against civilians or is this exception to this rule?

MR MILLER: U.S. weapons cannot be deliberately used against civilians. Of course – and one of the tragedies of war is that there are always civilian deaths. It is one of the great tragedies of war, and what we try to do is work to minimize civilian deaths to the greatest extent possible.

So that is why the Secretary engaged – the Secretary – let me just go back to what I said at the outset. The Secretary went to Israel last week, met with the Israeli Government on Thursday; met with families of hostages and met families of the deceased; gave a speech in Israel about how the United States supports Israel. And then he went and traveled around the region and talked to leaders of the countries I mentioned – Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar – both about the United States perspective and he listened to their perspective.

And one of the things he was able to do when he went back to Israel on Monday – three days ago, I think – was to deliver a message not just on behalf of the United States but on behalf of all of these other countries that it is important we establish a mechanism for the protection of civilians in Israel; came out and gave a press statement – I think it was at 3:00 in the morning, after we had engaged in seven and a half hours of discussions with the Israeli Government about that question – where he – as he said at the time, the Israeli Government had agreed, at our urging, at our strong urging in a message the Secretary carried not just on our behalf but on behalf of other countries in the region, to work to establish those mechanisms.

The President flew to Israel yesterday, personally pressed the government on that question, came out – and you saw announcements from the Israeli Government in the aftermath of that, and you see Ambassador Satterfield on the ground negotiating the mechanisms through which that humanitarian assistance will be provided and the ways in which we will set up areas to protect civilians right now.

This is a top priority for the United States Government. You have everyone from the President on down engaged in it just because it is such a top priority, and we will continue to stay focused on it.

QUESTION: Okay. And finally, just on the attack on the Ahli hospital, you said that you’re sure that actually it wasn’t the Israelis who did that.

MR MILLER: I said it was our initial assessment, based on the information that is available to us. And let me just say I don’t want to play media critic here, but I will say that I do think that this event was a reminder of that everyone – this includes officials in government, but officials in government and everyone that watches this conflict, that commentates on it – it would be wise for all of us to take a beat and pause and collect all the information before choosing to decide what we believe and what we don’t. I saw a number of – a number of reports from the very early days that took Hamas’s word at face value, the word of a terrorist organization. I don’t mind people – treating our claims with – our claims skeptically. Everyone has a right to do that. We stand up here every day and defend them. But I would hope that everyone who is watching what’s happening would not take claims from a terrorist organization at face value.

QUESTION: And that’s my question.

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Sorry.

MR MILLER: Yeah.

QUESTION: It’s precisely because of that that in the region, as you know, there is mistrust over the Israelis saying, and actually of the U.S. position as well, because there is previous administrations that took us to war in Iraq on a lie that was defended on a very high level, including behind this podium. That’s why people are cynical when you hear something. We might not know the truth, but would the United States support an international investigation? That’s —

MR MILLER: I do not believe that is appropriate at this time. The Israeli Government has released a great deal of evidence to support their contention that it – this was a misfire rocket attack from inside Gaza that unfortunately landed on this hospital and killed it looks like hundreds of civilians. The U.S. Government is conducting its own assessment.

And I would just say, from Hamas’s side we’ve seen a claim backed up by zero evidence, and it is unfortunate that a lot of people believe a claim from a terrorist organization in absence of them having provided any evidence at all when you are seeing the Israeli Government provide evidence. And I know people treat that skeptically, and I understand the reasons why. But I do – would hope that people who are trying to determine what actually happened would look at the fact that Israel has released information and Hamas has not in this instance.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

QUESTION: Thank you. Thank you.

MR MILLER: No, let me go – go ahead (inaudible).

QUESTION: Follow-up on —

MR MILLER: Yeah.

QUESTION: Follow-up on the resignation of the senior State Department official. After that resignation, would the U.S. reconsider its policy of unconditional military assistance to Israel? Isn’t there any concern among the administration that by supplying this military assistance, you might be involved in any possible war crimes against civilians?

MR MILLER: No, I would say that we have made very clear that we expect Israel to conduct its operations in compliance with international law. That is the standard we hold – uphold – that’s the standard we hold ourselves to; it’s the standard we hold our partners to; it’s the standard every democracy ought to be held to. And we will continue to work with them and continue to deliver messages to them that they should conduct their military operations in – and to the maximum extent possible to protect civilians from harm.

QUESTION: Also, I have a follow-up on the hospital attack. Would the U.S. consider making that evidence, that data related to hospital attack public?

MR MILLER: I don’t want to speak for the – those are not assessments that are conducted in this building and I wouldn’t want to speak to other agencies’ equities from here.

Go ahead, Shannon.

QUESTION: Thanks. On the hospital blast, we saw several Middle Eastern leaders come out quickly and going off of Hamas’s word condemn Israel, condemn the IDF. But now with the U.S. assessment, has there been any high-level outreach from this building to either share that intelligence or encourage them to walk back some of their initial condemnation?

MR MILLER: I don’t want to speak to private diplomatic negotiations, but one of the things the Secretary did make clear in his travels around the region is that we think everyone ought to be very clear on what Hamas is – a terrorist organization – and be clear about that publicly and be clear about that privately. But beyond that, I wouldn’t want to speak to private conversations.

QUESTION: As a follow-up, does the State Department think that if some of those leaders were to come out and have some more measured statements, walk back some of the initial statements, would that perhaps lower the temperature in the Middle East where we’re seeing widespread protests?

MR MILLER: Go ahead, if you wouldn’t mind repeating that question.

QUESTION: Is the view of the State Department that if some of these leaders were to walk back their initial statements, encourage caution, as the State Department has, would that perhaps lower the temperature where we’re seeing some of these widespread protests?

MR MILLER: I don’t want to speak to what other leaders should do. I would – but I would say we have made very clear that we think everyone ought to be open and crystal-clear in talking about the fact that Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization that killed hundreds and hundreds of Israeli civilians, and of course we would hope that everyone that looks at what happened in the explosion at the hospital would look at the evidence in making up any determinations and not just rely on the word of Hamas.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matthew. Excuse me. Why did the State Department allow for the lowering of flags in the aftermath of the hospital attack, per a department cable sent out to U.S. diplomatic and consular posts, but not in the aftermath of the October 17 Hamas attacks on Israel?

What does the House Speaker saga say about America’s standing in the world? Is the State Department concerned about the vacancy given that the U.S. cannot send supplemental assistance to Israel or Ukraine without a House speaker?

MR MILLER: What we said in respect to the lowering of flags is that embassies could make decisions consistent with longstanding State Department policy and State Department regulation to decide to lower their flag when a state of mourning has been declared in that country. There are other considerations that go into, but that’s one of them that embassies can consider. I think places where the flag has been lowered, it’s because there has been a state of mourning that was announced by the government.

We of course mourn the loss of the innocent civilians who died in that explosion at the hospital, just as we mourn the loss of 1,300 Israeli civilians in the deadly terrorist attacks by Hamas. With respect to the question about the flag at our embassy in Israel, there was not a national day of mourning that was declared, which is one of the things that goes into the policy. But I think we’ve made pretty clear our sympathies for the people of Israel when you saw, for example, the Secretary traveling to the region and meeting with the families of a number of Israeli and American citizens who had lost their lives, of meeting with the families of hostages, of giving a speech in Israel where he said that the United States stand – stands by you and talked about how the – he was personally affected by the tragedy.

And the second question with respect to – look, I’d say that it when it comes to funding, the President’s going to speak to this somewhat tonight, so I don’t want to get too far ahead of the President. Never a good idea for a spokesman. But I will say that we do think it’s important that we have a functioning partner in Congress who can support our allies and our partners around the world. We have made clear that we stand by Israel, just as we stand by Ukraine. They are two democracies defending themselves from attacks from outside. And so as we do everything we can as an Executive Branch, there is a time when we’re going to go – need to go to Congress for more assistance, and it would be nice to have a functioning partner in that regard.

One more.

QUESTION: And the – and the National Security Council of Israel raised the travel warning to Türkiye to its highest level, warning any Israelis in the country to leave. Are you concerned about the safety of U.S. nationals in Türkiye? And how do you intend to handle this with Türkiye, which is a NATO Ally?

MR MILLER: So I won’t speak to the question of the travel warning, but as I said, we issued a general – the travel warning that was not issued by the United States. As I said, we issued a general Travel Warning for Americans all across the world to take caution and be on the lookout for increased tensions wherever they might be. And I would encourage any American who’s traveling overseas to enroll in our safe traveler – our safe traveler program so they can get updates about where they are or about conditions wherever they might be.

Go ahead, Janne.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Thank you. Thank you, Matt. Russian President Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping blamed the Middle East crisis on U.S.’s faulty diplomacy, and they said that they supported Hamas. Meanwhile, China says it will act as a mediator for peace between Israel and Hamas. Do you agree to Chinese arbitration?

MR MILLER: I would just say that the instigator of this current conflict is Hamas, plain and simple, full stop. It is Hamas that launched a deadly terrorist attack inside Israel and killed hundreds and hundreds of civilians. With respect to potential mediators, I would say we think at this time the appropriate step is not mediation with Hamas, but Israel defending itself, as any country could.

I will say, however, that one of the things the Secretary did while he was traveling in the region is to reach out to his Chinese counterpart and call Wang Yi to make a very clear point, which is China has ability – has lines of communication with a number of countries in the region. We have said in the – going back to the Secretary’s trip to Beijing in June that one of the reasons we wanted to have lines of communication open with China was that so when there are crises across the world – not just bilateral issues between the United States and China, but when there are other crises – that China can use its lines of communication or its influence for good.

So if China could do something to prevent the conflict of – from widening, that is certainly something that we would welcome. But I don’t think that goal of ours is consistent with the proposal that you mentioned.

QUESTION: As you know, the North Korea continues to transport weapons to Russia. Does the U.S. have any tools to block arms trade between Russia and North Korea?

MR MILLER: So we’ve spoken to this somewhat before, back before this latest crisis. I will say that, as I said back then, part of the reason Russia has had to go around the world looking for arms is because of the sanctions and export controls that we have imposed on them. One of those states is the DPRK. We have made – we have released information to show that military assistance is already moving from DPRK into Russia. We will closely monitor that and we will take whatever steps we can to hold the party’s account – to account, as we have in the past.

QUESTION: Matthew, good afternoon. Two questions, if you would please. One, the Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem – his name is Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa. He recently said he would allow himself to be taken hostage by Hamas if Hamas would release the children they are currently holding in captivity. One, is the State Department aware of that offer?

MR MILLER: I’ve seen public reports about it. I don’t have any comment about it. Our position all along has been that Hamas should just release the innocent civilians that it’s holding. There shouldn’t – it’s not necessary to have any further negotiations. These are in many cases children, in some cases babies, and that Hamas just ought to release them.

QUESTION: Does the State Department believe the Vatican can play a role in helping free the hostages?

MR MILLER: We would welcome – we would welcome diplomatic engagements by any country to try and secure the release of hostages.

QUESTION: And number two, please. More specific, Holy Family Church is the only Roman Catholic church in Gaza. In fact, it’s located in Gaza City, the northern part of Gaza City. Right now it’s housing hundreds of refugees. They have little food, little water, little electricity, few mattresses. The new aid the Biden administration is sending, $100 million, do you believe , does the State Department believe that money will get to that church, Holy Family Church, to help those civilians there?

MR MILLER: I can’t speak to where exactly aid will be delivered with respect to any one entity inside Gaza. What I will say is that the mechanisms we are trying to establish now, that Ambassador Satterfield is trying to establish, are to ensure that food, water, medicine gets to any innocent civilians in Gaza who needs it. That would – could possibly include a church, it could include others. The point is that any innocent civilian – not a Hamas terrorist, but an innocent civilian – should have access to the food, water, medical – medication, and other humanitarian assistance that they need for their daily lives.

Abbie.

QUESTION: Can I follow up on the Rafah Border Crossing? I know there’s – we’ve been looking at 20 trucks possibly coming across, but how much aid total is waiting to come across that border? And can you give any more details on, once it crosses over, how it will be distributed and where it will go?

MR MILLER: Both of those are – I know there’s a number of aid that’s prepositioned by various agencies and nonprofits outside of Rafah. In terms of how it will be delivered inside Gaza, when it moves through Rafah into Gaza, are questions that we’re working through right now.

QUESTION: And one more follow-up on the worldwide threat. Were there any specific threats that the State Department saw that led them to issue that alert?

MR MILLER: I would just say we’re monitoring conditions around the world; we’re monitoring conditions in the region. We take a number of factors into consideration when making that determination. It’s not necessarily any one thing, but everything that we’re watching around the world.

Still on Israel or —

QUESTION: On Russia.

MR MILLER: Let me – go ahead. Go ahead. Yeah, go ahead, sorry.

QUESTION: Afghanistan, please.

QUESTION: Are we still in the Middle East?

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR MILLER: Go ahead, and then I’ll come to you. We’ll – we – yeah, go ahead. We can move to something else.

QUESTION: Thank you very much. As you know, Afghanistan people has a lot of problem – Pakistan and Iran try to kick them out, and they wants them to leave Iran and Pakistan, and so many refugee live in these two countries. There is any way to bring a little pressure on these two countries, Pakistan and Iran, to keep Afghan refugees so far? Because some of them, they try to leave Pakistan and Iran to come to the United States and some other country, they have a lot of difficulty, and they push them to leave the country.

MR MILLER: I would say that we urge all states, including Pakistan, to uphold their respective obligations in their treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, and to respect the principle of non-refoulement. We strongly encourage – I probably messed that up; my French is not so great. We strongly encourage Afghanistan’s neighbors, including Pakistan, to allow entry for Afghans seeking international protection, and to coordinate with international humanitarian organizations such as UNHCR and IOM to provide humanitarian assistance.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matt. Yesterday, the U.S. forces in Iraq engaged with three attacks, drone attacks. The second drone attack were – resulted in minor injuries to the U.S. forces. Do you think that this is a message from the Iraqi militia to U.S. forces in the region – if they are doing what they are doing in the region with Israel, then they are getting involved into this war? And secondly, who do you blame for this attacks?

MR MILLER: I would say that that’s a matter we’re still looking into. We obviously take very seriously the safety and security of all Americans overseas, especially our forces serving overseas. And for further comment, I’d refer you to the Pentagon.

QUESTION: Yeah. And secondly, Egypt’s President Sisi suggesting Negev instead of Sinai for Gaza refugees. Do you support the idea of —

MR MILLER: I – what was the —

QUESTION: President Sisi, he’s such suggesting Negev deserts to settling the Gaza refugees instead of Sinai? This is inside Israel. Do you support the idea of resettling the Gaza refugees inside Negev desert in Israel?

MR MILLER: I will say one of the things that we heard in our travels around the region from – first and foremost from President Abbas, but also from many other regions – is that the idea of Palestinians leaving Gaza was a nonstarter. They did not want to see Palestinians leave leaving Palestinian land. That’s one of the reasons why we focused on setting up areas inside Gaza where they can be safe from harm.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you. One question on Israel and one question on Russia. Amnesty International last week said that it has evidence Israel used phosphorus, white phosphorus, to bomb dense areas in Gaza. Are you aware of this report? Do you have any —

MR MILLER: I have seen the report. I don’t have any evidence to show that it’s accurate.

QUESTION: And on Russia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov said earlier in October that Russia has no other choice but to revoke its ratification of the CTBT treaty because the U.S. doesn’t show any sign of ratification. Do you have any comment, sir?

MR MILLER: Let me take that one back. And Alex, go ahead, and then we’ll —

QUESTION: Staying on Russia – thanks so much – back to the second U.S. reporter who has been arrested in Russia. You said you have no information and have not been officially notified. Is that the reason why the U.S. State Department hasn’t still designated her a wrongfully detained —

MR MILLER: Well, she was just detained in the last 24 hours, according to reports. She was detained. She was – her passport was taken. We’ve been working on this quietly. I’m not going to speak to all of those efforts, but it is something we’ve been focused on. But she was just arrested, according to reports; again, we’ve not been officially notified or had contact with her just in the past 24 hours.

QUESTION: And as you know, Secretary told us in May, following Gershkovich arrest, that all of the U.S. citizens acting – reporters in Russia have left Russia. Is that still the case? Do you have any updated information? How many American journalists are still operating?

MR MILLER: It’s not something that we’re necessarily able to track, journalists coming in and out. But I would say that our guidance has been very clear, which is: No American citizen should travel to Russia for any reason. It’s quite risky to do so. We’ve seen American citizens detained for no reason, arrested for no reason. So we would encourage any American not to travel to Russia. And with that, we’ll wrap for today.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR MILLER: Oh, one more from Abbie. Yeah.

QUESTION: The UN secretary-general has reiterated his call for a ceasefire in this conflict. Do you – how do you respond to that, with the UN taking that message?

MR MILLER: That is not our policy. We support Israel’s right to defend itself. You have to remember that Israel is still under attack. Hamas is still launching rocket attacks at Israel that have killed innocent civilians, and we believe Israel ought to have the right to defend itself against those attacks. At the same time, they ought to do so in a way that protects civilians from harm to the greatest extent possible.

I’ll stop – I’ll stop for —

QUESTION: You’re still asking for a two-state solution?

MR MILLER: We are. Of course we are. I’ll stop for there today. Thank you.

QUESTION: Thank you.

(The briefing was concluded at 2:19 p.m.)

# # #

Department Press Briefing – October 10, 2023

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Department Press Briefing – October 10, 2023

Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson

October 10, 2023

Article Index

~ISRAEL~
~ISRAEL / IRAN / QATAR~
~ISRAEL / PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES~
~ISRAEL / NORTH KOREA~
~ISRAEL / TURKEY~
~ISRAEL~
~ISRAEL / IRAN~
~PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES~
~ISRAEL / IRAN / QATAR / DEPARTMENT~
~ISRAEL / PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES~
~ISRAEL / IRAN~
~ISRAEL / RUSSIA~
~ISRAEL / IRAN~
~ISRAEL / PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES~
~ISRAEL / SAUDI ARABIA~
~PAKISTAN~
~ARMENIA / AZERBAIJAN~
~SYRIA~

3:00 p.m. EDT

MR MILLER: Good afternoon, everyone. Start with some brief comments.

I would like to begin by reiterating our condolences to the families of those who were killed by Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel, including the 14 American citizens who we know have died.

The department is actively engaging with the families of those U.S. citizens. None of us can imagine the grief that they are feeling today, and we are doing everything we can in our power to offer them all appropriate consular assistance.

I also want to talk about Secretary Blinken’s efforts over the past four days since Hamas launched its initial terrorist attacks against Israel, which have been focused on three key priorities.

First and foremost, the Secretary has been engaged with our Israeli partners to ensure that Israel has everything that it needs to defend itself.

Both President Biden and Secretary Blinken have made clear that we stand ready to offer all appropriate means of support to the government and people of Israel. The first tranche of security assistance is on its way and will arrive in the coming days, and more will follow.

Second, the Secretary has been working the phones with his foreign counterparts to ensure that anyone who has lines of communication with parties hostile to Israel should use those channels to say that now is not the time to take advantage of this situation.  The President has made that point clear – has made that point clearly and forcefully, and it is one Secretary Blinken has reiterated in his calls with leaders in the region.

Third, the Secretary has been intensely focused on securing the release of all hostages held in Gaza. There are a number of countries who have the ability to deliver messages to Hamas, and we have made clear to those countries that they should urge Hamas to release all hostages immediately. This is a matter we take incredibly seriously.

Finally, I’d like to announce that Secretary Blinken will be traveling to Israel in the coming days to engage our Israeli partners directly about the situation on the ground and how we can continue to best support them in their fight against the terrorists who launched these horrific attacks.

Our support for Israel is unwavering, and the Secretary looks forward to meeting with senior leaders in the Israeli Government and continuing the discussions he and the President have been having with them since the initial attacks on Saturday.

And with that, Matt.

QUESTION: In the coming days? You want to be more specific?

MR MILLER: Our expectation is that we will leave tomorrow and arrive in Israel on Thursday.

QUESTION: Okay. And is he going to go anywhere else?

MR MILLER: I don’t have announcements to make. This is a trip we’re still putting together at the time, but we’ll make – may have further announcements on that later this afternoon.

QUESTION: All right. And then on – so Jake Sullivan at the White House just said there are 20 – roughly 20 Americans missing.

MR MILLER: That’s correct. There are – the last number I had before coming out here was that there are 20 Americans who remain unaccounted for. That’s a number that has been moving around over the last few days. You have one number and then some of the people who are unaccounted for, unfortunately, you discover are actually deceased, or then some may turn up. But right now, the number that we’re tracking is 20.

QUESTION: Any – and you have no idea, of those 20, how many of their – how many of them – do their families believe that they are actually being —

MR MILLER: We don’t have definitive information, but we do believe it’s likely that there may be hostages who are U.S. citizens who are held in Gaza.

QUESTION: Can I ask —

MR MILLER: Go ahead. We’ll start and then go —

QUESTION: I’ll just be brief. But can you just like explain a little bit more what the Secretary’s message will be? You said he wants to confer with people, but will it be a message of solidarity? Will he discuss, in depth, the conflict and the maneuvers that – the actions that Israel is taking now?

MR MILLER: It will be a message of solidarity and support. He, of course, wants to hear from the leaders of Israel, hear from them directly about the situation they’re facing, hear from them directly about what they need and how we can best support them, and then to send a message to the Government of Israel and the people of Israel that we are there to support them as they fight against these brutal terrorist attacks and to talk about what additional assistance we can provide them.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Just on the hostages, can you talk a little bit about what engagements the State Department has had trying to secure their release with Israeli partners and others?

MR MILLER: I’m not going to talk in more detail, other than what I said in my opening comments. The Secretary has had a round of calls over the weekend. You’ve probably seen those, as we’ve been reading those calls out. And he has delivered a message consistently with everyone in the region if there’s anything you can do to send a message to those who are holding hostages, whether they be American citizens or whether they be others, that you should send the message to Hamas that they need to release those hostages immediately.

QUESTION: And what is the U.S. telling the Israelis about a ground operation, given these U.S. hostages?

MR MILLER: We understand that Israel was brutally attacked here. Israel has a right to defend itself. Israel has a right to conduct operations to ensure the security of its citizens, to ensure the security of its nation. And we are in communications with them about that, but those are decisions for Israel to make.

QUESTION: Do you have concerns that such an operation would hamper any efforts to secure their release unharmed?

MR MILLER: We don’t – look, our point right now is that Hamas ought to release all the hostages immediately. That’s the effort that we have been engaged in. I wouldn’t want to speak to anything beyond that.

QUESTION: On hostages?

QUESTION: Can I follow up?

MR MILLER: Jennifer, go ahead.

QUESTION: The partners that you’re engaging with to engage with Hamas, are they being productive? Is Hamas even acknowledging that they’re holding Americans right now?

MR MILLER: I’m not going to speak to the details of those conversations. We do believe that there are partners in the region who are playing a productive role here and want to help secure the release of hostages. But in terms of details of those efforts, I’m not going to talk about them publicly.

QUESTION: And who from the U.S. is leading those efforts?

MR MILLER: Again, I think there are a number of people inside the U.S. – well, I’ll say two things. One, the Secretary has been involved, engaged in direct conversations with his counterparts. The U.S. Government is also making available to Israel experts in hostage negotiations and hostage recovery. That includes experts from the State Department. I’m not going to talk about those in detail; those are private conversations we’re having with the Israeli Government.

QUESTION: Is that SPEHA?

MR MILLER: There are a number of experts from across the government who we are going to make available.

Olivia.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matt. There’s public reporting that the talks via the Qataris involve a possible swap of women and children being held in Hamas for women and children being held in Israeli jails. Can you comment at all whether the contours of those kinds of negotiations are accurate?

MR MILLER: Again, I’m not going to talk about the details of any conversations, other than to say that we have made clear that Hamas ought to release all of those prisoners immediately. That is our position. That is what we have advocated for. That’s what we think Hamas should do.

QUESTION: Okay. Separately, are there Americans who are asking the State Department for assistance to leave the region, whether from Israel or from Gaza?

MR MILLER: We have been in contact with a number of American citizens in Israel. There are number of American citizens who are longtime residents of Israel, some of them who are dual citizen, some of them who have just moved there, and then there are Americans who were there that were either visiting for business or for tourism or something else. And we have been in contact with a number of Americans through our embassy there, some who we have helped facilitate travel to depart the country.

The airport is still open; there are flights that are getting out of the airport in Tel Aviv. And so we have encouraged people to make the – to try to avail themselves of those options. We have also been in conversation with various carriers to encourage them to consider resuming travel in and out of Israel, and we’ll continue to do that.

QUESTION: I want to —

QUESTION: I have more on the region.

MR MILLER: Hold on. Hold on. Hold on, hold on. Olivia, did you have another one, or –

QUESTION: I do have a few more –

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: — on the region. I mean, American officials, to include the Secretary, have said that there is no direct evidence linking Iran to this specific Hamas-led attack. First, is there any update on that assessment? And then second, can you elaborate a bit on what the U.S. would consider direct involvement by the Iranians?

MR MILLER: So we do not have any information to suggest that Iran either directed or orchestrated these attacks by Hamas. Iran likely knew that Hamas was planning operations against Israel, but without the precise timing or scope of what occurred. Iran has, of course, long supported Hamas with material and financial support, but we have not yet seen anything to suggest that they supported or were behind this current attack.

But our experience in these matters tell us that it’s premature to draw any final conclusions about this issue. We’ll be looking at additional intelligence in the coming weeks and days to inform our thinking on this issue, including whether at least there were some in the Iranian system who either had a clear sense of what was coming or even contributed to aspects of the planning.

QUESTION: If you’ll allow me one more –

MR MILLER: Sure.

QUESTION: I mean, so – the Egyptians claim to have issued explicit and direct warnings to the Israelis that something was coming from Gaza and from Hamas. Does the U.S. have independent knowledge of any of those warnings, either being issued to Israeli or receiving them directly from the Egyptians themselves?

MR MILLER: I will let Israel speak to any conversations they had with Egypt.

QUESTION: A follow up?

QUESTION: Follow up?

MR MILLER: Go ahead, Shannon.

QUESTION: Thank you. Back to Iran. Going – looking at if the regime had direct knowledge of an attack, the timing of it, how much does that matter to the administration, given what you note – the material support, the military support, the millions of dollars they’ve been funneling into this organization, Hamas?

MR MILLER: So I will say that, first of all, I wouldn’t want to get ahead of what this assessment may ultimately find. We are in the early days after these attacks. Our first focus has been on helping Israel respond to these attacks, but we will continue to examine all intelligence and collect new intelligence, collect new information, talk with our Israeli partners about anything that they find.

But I will say, as we have made clear, that Iran has long supported Hamas. Hamas would not be what it is today without the financial and material backing that they have gotten from Iran. So yes, we very much do believe that Iran is at least complicit in these attacks, even if we do not yet have any evidence to show that they directed or orchestrated them.

QUESTION: With that complicity, will there be any kind of response? I know you don’t want to get into specifics, but –

MR MILLER: So I wouldn’t want to preview any actions that we might take. We have taken a number of actions since the beginning of this administration to hold Iran accountable for its malign activities in the region, including its support for terrorism. That includes more than 400 sanctions that we have imposed on Iran. We will continue to take actions to hold Iran accountable. But I wouldn’t want to preview from here what those might look like.

QUESTION: Follow-up on that. Follow-up on that.

QUESTION: Can I follow up on that?

MR MILLER: Go ahead. And then I’ll come – then I’ll come to Abbie.

QUESTION: There’s been some talk, especially by Republicans, about freezing – re-freezing the $6 billion in funds that had been transferred to Qatar to secure the release of the Americans. Is that under consideration?

MR MILLER: So I think you’re talking about the funds that come from Iranian oil revenue that I have heard people say could be used to fund malign activities. I want to give a very clear response, so if you’ll indulge me, I’m just going to read something here.

“Iran will have zero oil revenue to spend on any of these things. Let me say that again. Zero. One hundred percent of the revenue that Iran receives from the sale of crude oil will be held in foreign accounts and can be used by Iran only for humanitarian trade or bilateral trade in non-sanctioned goods and services.”

And I will point out that is not a quote from anyone in this administration; that is a quote from former Secretary Mike Pompeo, delivered at the State Department on November 2nd, 2018, when he established the accounts that yielded this revenue that Iran is now – now has access to, with additional restrictions that we have imposed on them to ensure that not only – that they can only be used for humanitarian trade, not bilateral trade in non-sanctioned goods, only humanitarian purposes. And we have ongoing mechanisms.

Now, with respect to what we might do in the future, we have the ability to freeze those funds if we need to. We’ve not made any decisions.

QUESTION: Follow-up on that.

QUESTION: Matt, that fine. But it doesn’t matter who said it; whoever said it was wrong. Because the money – if Iran has a promise of money, they can use their own money that they have inside their own country, knowing – to do whatever with it. They could buy medicine. They could buy food, whatever. They could rebuild a bridge. They could do that. But they know that they have $6 billion sitting in Qatar right now, okay?

So whether Secretary Pompeo said it and said that the money would only be used for that purpose – yeah – or whether you guys are saying, yes, maybe that specific dollar with that serial number or that Euro with that serial number on it, can’t be used to fund terrorism. But the fact of the matter is – and you guys know this – is that it allows or it frees up money that Iran has for a – inside its own country – to use for other things, so they don’t have to spend that money on these —

MR MILLER: So let me —

QUESTION: – non-sanctioned items.

MR MILLER: Let me say two things about that. One, the reason I read this exact quote is I have heard a number – a fair bit of criticism about this money, including from the person who said this in November of 2018, and I thought it was fair to point out that this money was first allowed to accrue into these accounts under the Trump administration. And that’s a point – you did —

QUESTION: Well, I pointed it out at the same – back then as well.

MR MILLER: You did, and there are a number of people who have had a lot to say about this the last few days who have conveniently forgot that fact, which is why I thought it was important to remind the world.

The second thing I will say is that Iran has, of course, always funded terrorism. They have always funded malign activities in the region, and that’s why we have always taken action to hold them to account. But this money can only be used for humanitarian purposes. Not a cent of it has been spent at this point.

QUESTION: But that is not the argument that people are making.

MR MILLER: And we have the ability to freeze it at any time.

QUESTION: That is not the criticism that you’re getting. The criticism that you’re getting is that – is that this frees up money inside Iran that they can use for malign purposes —

MR MILLER: And there —

QUESTION: – as you say.

MR MILLER: And there is just no evidence that that is accurate. When we have seen —

QUESTION: Well, is there any evidence that —

MR MILLER: – when we have seen – when we have —

QUESTION: Is it inaccurate accurate? Can you – can you say —

MR MILLER: The evidence – so the —

QUESTION: Can you say that there is no evidence that Iran has used money over the course of the last month or month and a half since the money – months – since the money arrived in Qatar – to send to Hamas? Can you say that? Do you know?

MR MILLER: Iran has funded terrorism before these accounts were established, during the Trump administration. They have funded terrorism after these accounts were established in the Trump administration. They will no doubt continue to fund terrorism in the future, which is why we have sought to hold them accountable. With respect to this money, it cannot be used for anything but humanitarian purposes. We have strict oversight; we have strict visibility. And if we see it being used for anything else, we can shut it down immediately.

QUESTION: (Off-mike) —

MR MILLER: Go – Said, go –

QUESTION: (Inaudible) —

MR MILLER: Okay – you know what, I’m going to move around. Said, go ahead.

QUESTION: Yeah. Although – although the —

QUESTION: Let’s get real – let’s get real here.

QUESTION: Although the President did not call for restraint, for the Israelis to exercise restraint in the upcoming or the speculated-to-be-upcoming ground invasion, the President did mention that Israel ought to abide by international law. Does that, in your view, mean that Israel must end its cutoff of water, electricity, food, and medicine to the people in Gaza?

MR MILLER: I will say that, as the President made clear, Israel has suffered from a brutal terrorist attack. Israel has the right to defend itself. It has the right to take action against the terrorists who launched this brutal attack and killed Israeli civilians and killed American civilians, killed mothers and children and babies, and kidnapped children. And so they are —

QUESTION: What’s (inaudible)?

MR MILLER: And so they are going to – they are going to take action to respond to this terrorist attack and take action to secure their country, and we support them. As the President made clear, we always encourage all of our allies and partners to act in strict accordance with international law. That is what democracies do. And I would just point out that of course is not what Hamas did – let me just —

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR MILLER: Said, let me just finish – that is not —

QUESTION: So they —

MR MILLER: Said, let – that is not what Hamas did in coming into Israel and kidnapping and murdering innocent civilians.

QUESTION: Okay. I understand. I mean, Hamas – you have Hamas listed as a terrorist organization. They don’t get $4 billion a year from you. They don’t have military aid and support and so on. So that is established. You’re saying that Israel is a democracy, it’s a country that abides by international law. I am asking you: the cutoff of water, electricity, food, and medicine is considered a war crime. Do you call on Israel to cease its – its effort now in cutting so medicine, water, humanitarian aid —

MR MILLER: So let me start by saying that we are in the early days of Israel’s response. Israel has a right to conduct an aggressive response to respond to the terrorism that’s been committed against its citizens. We expect them to follow international law, we believe that they will, and we will remain in close contact with them about it.

QUESTION: You believe they should not intentionally target civilians. That’s one. Second, do you have any idea on the number of Palestinians killed by Israel in the last four days?

MR MILLER: I have seen public reports.

QUESTION: What are these reports?

MR MILLER: I am not going to speak to the —

QUESTION: Are they in the hundreds, in the thousands?

MR MILLER: So I – Said, I’m going to speak to what the U.S. Government can verify, which I’ve done with the number of U.S. citizens. I will let Israel speak to the number of Israeli citizens they have killed as well as the number of Palestinians they have killed.

QUESTION: Do you know if the 14 that the President spoke about are Palestinian Americans?

MR MILLER: I don’t – I don’t have any degree whether they are Palestinian Americans, whether they are dual citizens. It ultimately doesn’t matter to us. American citizens are American citizens.

QUESTION: And my – and my last question to you, Matt, I mean, the President has said that Hamas is motivated – and I’m paraphrasing – motivated solely by the quest to kill Jews. Do you believe that is to be the case? Is it the assessment of this government that Hamas sole motivation is to go out and kill Jews? There’s no context; there’s no siege that has gone on for 16 years.

MR MILLER: So —

QUESTION: There is no raid after raid by the Israelis?

MR MILLER: Said, I am just going to say that is a bit of a surprising question after what we saw a Hamas carry out this weekend, when we saw Hamas go in and deliberately target Israeli citizens —

QUESTION: No. I’m just saying —

MR MILLER: — and not just soldiers in the IDF but women, children, kidnapped them. We all saw the images that — across our television screens —

QUESTION: That’s true. And you state that —

MR MILLER: — of Hamas behaving in the most inhumane way possible. So I won’t speak to their motivations, and I think they’re pretty clear.

QUESTION: No, no, I am saying – I am saying to you —

MR MILLER: Let me – let me move on. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Is there another context? Is there another context?

QUESTION: Thank you very much, Matt. I have a question about the U.S. role, potential U.S. role. There’s been this strike carrier group that has been dispatched to the area, to the eastern Mediterranean, and now there’s reports that the second carrier group might be on the way to near Israel. So today, the Turkish president asked what the U.S. warships sent near Israel are there for, and it’s a question a number of countries in the region are trying to find an answer for. So is the U.S. really looking to get involved militarily? Can you rule that out? Because that could mean a catastrophic all-around regional conflict immediately.

MR MILLER: So we do not have any plans for boots on the ground or military action at this point. I will let the Pentagon speak to the specifics of deployments. But as the President has made clear, he has ordered the Pentagon to take these efforts to send a clear deterrent message to anyone who is considering entering this conflict, any of the – any entity or – who is hostile to Israel to take note and to not take action. I thought the President spoke very forcefully to that question today.

QUESTION: Hamas?

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matt. On connection between Hamas and North Korea, Hamas and North Korea have been engaging in arms trading for some time. What are you concerned about the North Korea’s announcement that it support Hamas?

MR MILLER: Well, we clearly would be concerned about any country that is providing support to Hamas, whether it be financial, whether it be military, and would look to counter that action. And we do it first and foremost by making sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against the recent terrorist attacks.

QUESTION: Does Israel have a right to kill civilians?

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Does Israel have a right to kill —

MR MILLER: No, I’m going to call on – the way we do it in this briefing room – and you and I have had this —

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR MILLER: You and I have conversation before – is I call on people and they ask questions and I move around.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Yesterday, Secretary Blinken deleted a tweet related to his phone call with Turkish foreign minister. The tweet included dimension of the ceasefire. Was that the reason? The word “ceasefire” was the reason behind why he deleted the tweet?

MR MILLER: I’m glad you asked me that question because there’s been a bit of misinformation about it. So after his call with Foreign Minister Fidan, we released a public readout that made clear that the Secretary, in his conversation, had reiterated what we have said publicly a number of times, which is: Hamas should cease its violent activities against Israel. The tweet was unfortunately worded, did not capture that appropriately, so we pulled it down.

And I’ve seen a lot of people – a lot of public conversation about this. I think those who – I think you would have to be intentionally misunderstanding what our position is, given the number of statements that we have made about supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, about supporting Israel taking direct action against Hamas. The Secretary spoke to that publicly on Sunday, on the Sunday shows. The President has spoken to it forcefully and we’ve issued a number of statements making that clear.

QUESTION: Can I have one more, please?

MR MILLER: Turkish President Erdogan said Ankara is prepared to take on a mediator role in the ongoing Palestinian and Israeli tension. What is the U.S. position on this offer, and was that discussed during the phone call between Blinken and Fidan?

MR MILLER: So I won’t speak to any potential mediation. I will say, with respect to the conversation that the Secretary had, we released a readout with information about his conversation with Foreign Minister Fidan. We made clear in that conversation, as we have in all of our conversations, that anything they can do to keep other parties from entering this conflict, anything that they can do to secure the release of hostages, is something we would encourage and something we would support.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matt. I have two questions, one on Hamas and the other one on Syria. The first one: Have you noticed statements that – issued by the Iraqi leaders and Iraqi governmental officials about defense and escalation against (inaudible) Israel, including (inaudible) armory? The leader of the Iranian-backed (inaudible) organization issued a threat to the U.S. forces in Iraq and also elsewhere. He said that if the U.S. will interfere into the Israel and also helping Israel against Hamas, we are not hesitating to target the U.S. forces.

MR MILLER: So I won’t speak to those comments specifically other than to say that the U.S. – U.S. forces will do everything they have to to defend themselves, as is always the case.

QUESTION: Have you took those warning seriously?

MR MILLER: I’m not going to speak to that other than comment I just made.

QUESTION: May I —

MR MILLER: And I would refer you to Pentagon for specific comments on U.S. forces.

QUESTION: I have another question on Syria. May I ask now, or —

MR MILLER: Let’s come back to it.

Abbie, go ahead.

QUESTION: Can I go back to some of these questions about Iran?

MR MILLER: Sure.

QUESTION: I know you’re not being specific about any U.S. response to their complicity in these attacks, but are you encouraging any of your partners to take actions? For instance, are you asking for countries to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization who haven’t done so before?

MR MILLER: We absolutely think that other countries should designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization. It’s a position that we’ve made clear a number of times. They finance terrorist activities, they have around the world for some time, and we think that other countries should take that step of designating them.

QUESTION: Are you having any specific conversations with your European partners and pushing them to make this move now?

MR MILLER: I won’t speak to specific conversations with respect to Iran. Again, as I said, they’re broadly complicit in supporting Hamas, have been so for years. But we’re going to continue to gather evidence and intelligence about whether there was any direct involvement in these attacks before making – taking any further steps.

Alex, go ahead.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR MILLER: Yeah.

QUESTION: Just (inaudible) Europeans, the – I’m sure you saw – seen the European debate on assistance to the Palestinian Authority, initially talking about a freeze in development assistance and then reversing that. Does the United States have any take on that? And how has the U.S.’s own aid posture been affected by events this weekend?

MR MILLER: I believe they did reverse that, which is a step that we welcomed. We have made very clear that we do not have any grievance with the Palestinian people. As I have said from this podium a number of times, we have taken – we support steps that improve the livelihoods, improve the dignity of the Palestinian people, and we – and we supply —

QUESTION: (Inaudible) bomb (inaudible) Israel with (inaudible).

MR MILLER: — excuse me – and we supply —

QUESTION: This is absurd, Matt. Absolutely absurd.

MR MILLER: Excuse me. And we supply humanitarian aid that goes directly to the Palestinian people to benefit them. And I think the point that we would make – this is something the Secretary got into over the weekend – there are two paths forward for the region. There is a path of stability [not] conflict and normalization of relations with Israel, and then there is a path of death and destruction. And it is Hamas that favors that path of death and destruction.

We do not have any quarrel with the Palestinian people, which is why we think it’s important to continue to provide humanitarian aid that directly benefits them, not the terrorists who are trying – the terrorists who ultimately are going to be responsible for the loss of many Palestinian lives.

QUESTION: But Israel is raining down death and destruction (inaudible), Matt.

MR MILLER: You know what? I’m going to ask that we —

QUESTION: (Inaudible) what you’re doing.

MR MILLER: This is not a – this is – this room is not a debating session. It’s questions and answers.

QUESTION: What you’re doing (inaudible), Matt. How can you (inaudible).

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matthew. One, is the U.S. re-evaluating its alliance with Qatar, given Qatar’s support for Hamas? And I want to follow up on Vivian’s question about U.S. citizens. So U.S. citizens are having difficulty getting out of Israel. On a personal note, a friend of mine and his wife and two of their friends are trying to get out. They filled out some State Department form and haven’t heard back. So I don’t – what advice do you have for U.S. citizens like them? And then regarding – going off of Matt, I mean, what do you say to the criticism regarding the unfreezing of the $6 billion that money is fungible? Thank you.

MR MILLER: So I will say that I already answered the question about money being fungible in great detail, I think, with Matt. And I can repeat it again but that probably isn’t productive for any of us.

I will say – give me the first question again. I got the second one, but —

QUESTION: Yeah, yeah. Is the U.S. —

MR MILLER: Oh, Qatar. Right. So with respect to Qatar, the Secretary has had a number of productive conversations with the foreign minister of Qatar. We actually think that they are playing a productive role here and will continue to be partners of the United States. We are asking Qatar, as we are asking every country, to use any influence that they have to keep other parties from coming into this conflict and to secure the release of hostages.

And the second question?

QUESTION: Even with their support of Hamas?

MR MILLER: And the second question was?

QUESTION: The second question is U.S. citizens are having difficulty getting out.

MR MILLER: Oh, right, right. So look, we understand that there are a number of American citizens who want to leave Israel and that currently it may be that there aren’t enough available flights because some carriers have suspended travel. As I said, we have been in discussions with carriers, urging them to consider whether they want to resume travel. There are still flights that are making it out of Israel, some El Al flights, other flights to – operated by carriers in the region. And so we would encourage U.S. citizens to try to take advantage of those flights or other routes out of. And if they do contact the embassy, we will seek to facilitate travel with any information that we have that can be helpful.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: And does – and one – and just a quick one, last one.

MR MILLER: Go ahead. Yeah.

QUESTION: Does the United States believe that the war between Israel and Hamas will be long?

MR MILLER: I’m not going to speculate about the future.

Alex, go ahead and I’ll come to you next.

QUESTION: Okay. Thank you very much.

QUESTION: The question about – and thank you, Matt. Why has the Palestinian Authority leader, Abbas, not condemned the genocide against Israel, and what does that indicate? And I have a follow-up.

MR MILLER: So I will let every leader speak to themselves about why they make the statements they do or don’t make, but we have been clear about the horrific, violent attacks that were committed against Israel this weekend. We’ve made clear what the United States position is on that matter and we’ll continue to do so.

QUESTION: Okay. Secondly, how is the Palestinian Authority’s official policy of “pay to slay” any different from what Hamas did on October 7th?

MR MILLER: So I will say that we oppose that policy, and with respect to the aid that we provide through humanitarian organizations to the region, we comply fully with the Taylor Force Act that presents – prevents any U.S. funds from being used in that regard.

Alex, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thanks, Matt. Anything you can tell us about perceived Russian involvement, given Russian connections with Hamas?

MR MILLER: I don’t have any evidence of that to speak to at this moment.

QUESTION: And can you speak to some of the efforts on your end to figure out why everyone was so blindsided, Israel and the U.S.?

MR MILLER: Look, I think there will be a time to look at those kind of questions about intelligence. I’m sure that the Israeli Government will take that very seriously. But I believe that their focus right now is responding to these attacks. Our focus right now is helping support them as they respond to those attacks and getting the security assistance they need to do so effectively. And that’s our focus right now. There will be a time to answer those questions.

QUESTION: If you’ll allow me just one more, if I may. Given everything you have told us – that you know that Iran knew this was coming – at what point the administration —

MR MILLER: I don’t believe that’s exactly what I said, but —

QUESTION: Yeah. I’m just (inaudible) the suggestions coming from the Hill. At what point the administration will be open to reconsidering its – to reverse course on Iran? Is there – are you waiting for other shoes to drop or is it in active discussion?

MR MILLER: I don’t know what you mean by reverse course on Iran. As I’ve said, we’ve imposed more than 400 sanctions on Iran since the beginning of this administration, precisely because we’ve seen their support for terrorism. We’ve seen the way they’ve added conflict and instability to the region, and we will continue to hold them accountable for those actions.

QUESTION: Can you just come back to me later real quick?

MR MILLER: Yeah, let me go to the – go ahead, and then we’ll —

QUESTION: So I’d like to follow up on what Alex was saying about Russia. Because you’ve repeatedly said, warned any other entities to not – not to take advantage of the situation. Does that, I mean, include Russia? Because we’ve heard President Zelenskyy saying that Russia is seeking to exacerbate the conflict and to distract from its war. So do you agree with him? And also on – a follow-up on the – what Said was saying. Do you – I mean, is the concrete example of the siege that Israel is laying – is that okay in your book? I mean, is that – do you approve of that, the Israeli approach so far?

MR MILLER: I will say, with respect to the first question, that the President was quite clear on Saturday when he spoke to this, and he was quite clear when he spoke to this question earlier today – that no one hostile to Israel should look to this moment to take advantage of the current conflict. And I don’t have anything to add to elaborate to that question.

With respect to the second question, look, as I said, it is Hamas who launched these terrorist attacks against Israel. It is Hamas who brutalized Israeli civilians. Israel has every right to respond forcefully to these attacks. It is what any country would do if they saw children being dragged away as hostages, if they saw children being slaughtered, if they saw people that were at a music festival being gunned down en masse. Any country would respond forcefully. We support Israel’s right to do it. We think it’s appropriate to do it. They have to be able to defend and secure their country.

QUESTION: Any country would lay a siege?

MR MILLER: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you. Ghazi Hamad, a Hamas spokesman, meanwhile told the BBC that the group had direct backing for the attack on Israel from Iran. Do you want to comment on it?

MR MILLER: We have seen those quotes. We don’t have any independent information to verify that.

QUESTION: If another Iranian proxy on the region going to join this battlefield with Israel, what will be your reaction? Are you —

MR MILLER: I’m not going to speak to hypotheticals, but the message that we have delivered very clearly, from the President on down, is that no entity hostile to Iran^[1] should consider entering this conflict.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Yeah. In March, you condemned Israel’s finance mister, Bezalel Smotrich, for calling for wiping the Palestinian village of Huwara off the map. This week we’ve heard the defense minister of Israel, Yoav Gallant, declare that he’s fighting human animals in Gaza, as Israel cuts off the gas, the water, and the electricity. We’ve heard Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, declare that all hiding places will be turned to rubble in a besieged coastal enclave where there are 1 million children. We’ve heard Ariel Kallner, who is a member of Knesset from the ruling Likud party call for a Nakba 2.0, which is essentially a call for genocide and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians as 850 are dead in Gaza. So what do you think of that rhetoric, in light of your previous condemnation?

MR MILLER: So let me say a few things about that. Number one, we expect, as we said, that Israel will conduct its operations in accordance with international law. Number two, there are going to be a number of statements made over the course of this conflict, and when we have disagreements with them, we will make those known privately. Number three, though, some of —

QUESTION: But you made them public before.

MR MILLER: Let me just – let me just speak to this. Number three, some of the questions I’m getting today do seem to ignore the fact that Israel just had hundreds of its citizens killed, people who were taken hostage, and pretend that Israel shouldn’t be able to conduct any kind of —

QUESTION: You can’t just say genocidal rhetoric. Can you —

MR MILLER: Let me just say – because shouldn’t – just shouldn’t —

QUESTION: Do you have – do you acknowledge that 80 Palestinian children have been killed?

MR MILLER: Let me just – just let me – let me —

QUESTION: Do you acknowledge that? Will you even acknowledge that?

MR MILLER: Let me finish.

QUESTION: Eighty Palestinian children killed this week?

MR MILLER: You know what? Again, let me —

QUESTION: Babies – do you acknowledge that?

MR MILLER: You asked a question. I will answer the question.

QUESTION: Okay. Well, that’s my question.

MR MILLER: Though I’m going to start by answering the previous question that was interrupted. I will say some of the questions seem to pretend that Israel should not be able to conduct operations to defend itself and hold accountable the terrorists who killed civilians. That is not Israel’s policy. That is not our policy. It is something that we would vehemently disagree with. Israel has the right to secure its country, the way any country does. It has the right to defend itself against terrorism; it has the right to hold terrorists accountable.

And I will say, ultimately, the Hamas terrorists who launched these operations – there is no one who has more disregard for Palestinian civilian life than those terrorists. Because those terrorists —

QUESTION: (Inaudible.)

MR MILLER: Let me finish. Those terrorists launched this activity —

QUESTION: 850 Palestinians, mostly civilians, bombed in residential towers, bombing offices.

MR MILLER: Those terrorists – again, we have a lot of new – we seem to have a lot of new people. Those terrorists launched this activity knowing that there would be retaliation, knowing that Israel would have to defend itself, as any country did, knowing that it would lead to the unfortunate loss of civilian lives by their – by Palestinians, and they did anyway.

QUESTION: Isn’t that (inaudible) Palestinian captives in Israel prisons.

MR MILLER: Let me go – go ahead.

QUESTION: That’s amazing.

QUESTION: Yes. Is there a latest U.S. assessment —

QUESTION: So baby killing is okay here?

QUESTION: Why can’t you acknowledge —

QUESTION: Baby killing is okay here.

MR MILLER: I —

QUESTION: — the Palestinian children? You can’t even acknowledge it.

MR MILLER: We always – we always mourn the loss of civilian life. It is an unfortunate circumstance every time it happens. And as I just said, the Hamas terrorists who launched this terrorist attack, knowing that it would produce the loss of not just direct Israeli lives, who they took in their incursions across the border, but also the loss of Palestinian civilian life – they ultimately bear the responsibility for those acts.

QUESTION: They took the —

QUESTION: Matt —

MR MILLER: Go ahead. Go ahead.

QUESTION: — staying in the region.

QUESTION: Will you call on Israel to not kill civilians?

MR MILLER: I’m going to ask – I’m going to —

QUESTION: Will you call on Israel to not kill civilians?

MR MILLER: I just – I just did do that.

QUESTION: It’s a simple question.

MR MILLER: I’m going to ask – I’m going to —

QUESTION: Will you call on Israel to not kill civilians?

MR MILLER: I would ask you not to talk over your colleague. Go ahead.

QUESTION: It’s a simple – you can’t make it simpler than that, Matt. Do you call on Israel to not kill civilians?

QUESTION: Matt, thank you. Is there a latest U.S. assessment on Saudi’s position —

MR MILLER: I just did. And I’m going to – go ahead.

QUESTION: Can you say it like you say it (inaudible)?

QUESTION: — involving the potential normalization deal with Israel and the —

MR MILLER: Let me – there was a little talking over you. Why don’t you go ahead and go again, if you don’t mind.

QUESTION: Is there a latest U.S. assessment on Saudi’s position on the potential normalization deal with Israel, and especially after Secretary spoke with his counterpart from Saudi? Where we are at?

MR MILLER: So the Secretary did speak to this somewhat on Sunday, when he was asked about it on the morning shows. And the point that he made is very simple, which is there are opponents in the region of normalization. Hamas is an opponent of normalization. Hizballah is an opponent of normalization. Iran is an opponent of normalization. And they seek to prevent normalization exactly through these terrorist attacks.

So we do believe that normalization of relations not just between Israel and Saudi Arabia but between Israel and other countries in the region would help bring stability, would help bring peace, would help bring prosperity to the region. So it is a path that we will continue to pursue. The other path, as I said a minute ago, is the one outlined by Hamas, which is death and destruction. It is one of the goals of launching these terrorist attacks. And so we will not be deterred in continuing to pursue further normalization, which, as I said, we believe brings stability to the region.

QUESTION: You’re normalizing war crimes here, Matt. You’re normalizing war crimes.

MR MILLER: Go ahead. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matt.

QUESTION: You’re saying it’s okay —

MR MILLER: Again —

QUESTION: You’re saying it’s okay —

QUESTION: Excuse me.

MR MILLER: I would ask you to stop putting words in my mouth. Go ahead.

QUESTION: — (inaudible).

QUESTION: Thank you, Matt. I was just – one quick question is that President Biden’s two-state theory was very much appreciated in many countries in the Southeast Asia side. As for now, after this incident has happened, has that – has gone a little bit on the back burner side?

No, that’s my one question and then I have one follow-up, please.

MR MILLER: No, it continues to be our policy and that we will continue to support.

QUESTION: Okay. And then the second one is just because of Taliban, we had a lot of bomb blasts – TTP had many blasts in Pakistan, where the U.S. bases were there at that time and the U.S. could have taken very severe actions against them where, at least in my city, we had in one school 120 kids being slaughtered, more than several blasts where more than hundred people were dead. But the U.S. did not do something like that in Afghanistan to settle things with the – don’t you think because of U.S. not condemning these things, at least the humanitarian part, the U.S. impression at least around the world is going – like, don’t you think for the humanitarian there should be a little softer —

MR MILLER: So I would say that we always condemn acts of terrorism anywhere that they occur in the world, and as I believe you and I have discussed before, we have met recently with our Pakistani counterparts to discuss how we can increase our terrorism cooperation so that they can effectively counter terrorism inside their borders.

Alex, I said I’d come back to you and then we’re going to wrap up here.

QUESTION: Thank you, Matt. (Inaudible) South Caucasus.

MR MILLER: I’ll come to you and then we’ll wrap.

QUESTION: Lavrov today published an article on the ministry website accusing the U.S. of interfering into South Caucasus issues, including Nagorno-Karabakh, for its, quote/unquote, “geopolitical ambitions.” Do you have any response to this?

MR MILLER: Well, that’s absolutely not true. Our only goal in the South Caucasus, in the relationship between Armenia and Azerbaijan, is to ensure a lasting peace and stability and of course to ensure that the humanitarian needs and rights of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh are protected.

QUESTION: And as you know, Senior Advisor Bono is in the region, and he met with Azerbaijan officials. Any readout on that? I know the Secretary – the U.S. embassy to Yerevan was involved into urgent medical evacuation. Any details about that?

MR MILLER: I would refer you to the embassy for any further details on that question. And no, I don’t have specific readouts of Special Envoy Bono’s conversations.

Go ahead and then we’ll wrap.

QUESTION: Thank you. Yeah. A question on Syria and Turkish attacks on northeast Syria. In just 72 hours, they attacked 150 sites, including the civilian infrastructure and also the – there are a lot of civilian casualties. Do you have any comments and are you condemning these attacks by Turkish on northeast Syria?

MR MILLER: So the United States remains concerned about military activity in northern Syria, its impacts on the civilian population and infrastructure, and the impact on the effectiveness of our operations to ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS. Our position has not changed. We continue to support the current ceasefire lines and call for a de-escalation of violence. It is crucial for all sides to maintain and respect ceasefire zones and to de-escalate violent activity to enhance stability in Syria and work toward a political solution to the conflict.

And with that, we’ll wrap. And with that, we’ll wrap for the day. Thanks, everyone.

(The briefing was concluded at 3:52 p.m.)

[1] Israel ↑

Department Press Briefing – October 4, 2023

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Department Press Briefing – October 4, 2023

Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy Spokesperson

Washington, D.C.

October 4, 2023

Article Index

UKRAINE/RUSSIA/REGION
EGYPT
ARMENIA/AZERBAIJAN/REGION
ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES/REGION
TÜRKIYE/SYRIA/IRAQ/REGION
IRAN/REGION/UKRAINE/DEPARTMENT
EGYPT
NORTH KOREA/REGION
UKRAINE/RUSSIA/REGION
ARMENIA/AZERBAIJAN/REGION
GEORGIA
ARMENIA/AZERBAIJAN/REGION

1:20 p.m. EDT

MR PATEL: Good afternoon, everybody. We are going to try very hard to wrap expeditiously so you all can catch the Secretary’s remarks at UT. So that means I will be cutting off some of your pontificating so we can get to enough people in the room.

With that, Matt?

QUESTION: There is only one person in this room who pontificates, and it’s the person who stands behind the podium, not who sit in front of it.

MR PATEL: Go ahead, Matt. I don’t have anything off the top.

QUESTION: I don’t have anything, either.

MR PATEL: All right. Simon.

QUESTION: Yeah. Can we talk a bit about funding for Ukraine?

MR PATEL: Sure.

QUESTION: Obviously, events yesterday raised some more – even more questions about where the next money is coming from. I know you – the administration has said that there’s money in place for the next little bit; I wonder if you could be more specific on when exactly the money that is currently available will last until, and what is the plan if new funding is not made available in that time?

MR PATEL: So I’m just – again, I’m not going to get into the specifics on this. I think we’ve talked a great deal about the importance of why we think we need to continue funding – this kind of funding. And as you know, President Biden convened a call with allies and partners to coordinate the ongoing support for the people of Ukraine as they defend their freedom and independence against Russia’s brutal invasion. The leaders discussed efforts to provide Ukraine with the ammunition and weapon systems it needs to defend its territory against Russian aggression, to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses, to protect its critical infrastructure from Russia’s aerial assaults in the coming months.

I will just reiterate, though, as the Congress works through its various mechanisms and procedures, we cannot under any circumstances allow America’s support for Ukraine to be interrupted. A lapse in support for even a short period of time could make all the difference in the battlefield, and so this is something that we’re going to continue to work closely with our partners in Congress on and continue to coordinate directly.

I am not going to get ahead of a speaker’s race, but it’s been clear to us that there is a majority in both the House and the Senate that support continuing to help and support our Ukrainian partners. That is still the case. Nothing there has changed, and Congress should keep the commitment it’s made to the people of Ukraine to fight against this kind of aggression.

QUESTION: And that call with allies, was there any sort of – has there been any commitment to say, okay, you guys are struggling with funding; we’ll step up? Is that what – is that really what you’re asking countries – other countries to step in where the U.S. has this kind of political chaos, and you’re basically asking allies, can you cover us for a little bit?

MR PATEL: I certainly – it was certainly not that kind of call. It was a convening call to discuss ways in which both us and the alliance can continue to support our Ukrainian partners, but also ways in which we can continue to support one another. I will just note, though, that President Biden, under his leadership, we have developed and established quite the coalition that has been able to provide our Ukrainian partners with the kind of systems and assistance that it has needed to continue to defend itself, and that’s also in large part about what this call was about.

Okay.

QUESTION: Vedant, funding-related.

MR PATEL: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Senator Ben Cardin, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has blocked the $235 million in military funds to Egypt until Egypt makes progress in human rights issues. What will happen now with the package that the Secretary has already waived the sign or the block on? And did the department answer Senator Cardin?

MR PATEL: So we – we’re going to continue to engage closely with not only the Egyptian Government but also Congress about how these funds will be used, consistent with our commitment to a U.S.-Egypt strategic partnership that advances our shared vision for a secure and prosperous region, and one that enables tangible and sustained progress on human rights issues.

I will just note, Michel, that Secretary Blinken stands by his decision that it is in the U.S. national security interest to waive certain military – certain conditions related to the Fiscal Year 2022 Foreign Military Financing assistance for Egypt, the 235 million number that you laid out. We have obligated a total of 1.215 billion in FMF funding that Egypt will receive for FY 2022. We’re continuing to work through these issues with Congress and our partners in Egypt, and that is going to continue to be the case; I’m not going to get ahead of that process.

QUESTION: And what effects this block will have on this aid?

MR PATEL: Again, this is a process that we’re working through with the Congress and look forward to continuing to engage with Chairman Cardin and SFRC on this as well.

Alex, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thanks, Vedant. Happy Wednesday. Moving to Azerbaijan-Armenia, if you don’t mind.

MR PATEL: Yeah.

QUESTION: Can we just close in on a now-disclosed and confirmed secret meeting took place in Istanbul on September 17, reportedly between the U.S., Russia, and the EU? What is your best version of what happened there? How was that born and what were you hoping for?

MR PATEL: Well, I would – I’d perhaps take – first take issue with the characterization of it being a secret meeting. Alex, as you know as someone who’s covered these issues for some time, we engage with stakeholders and interlocutors in the region quite regularly, and the meeting in Istanbul on September 17th came together to address specifically urgent humanitarian issues and the provision of potential humanitarian aid in Nagorno-Karabakh. That’s what that meeting was about. But broadly, the U.S. remains deeply engaged on the situation and we continue to be committed to helping the parties achieve a lasting peace in the South Caucasus.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) confirm – was it a meeting of the meeting of Minsk Group co-chairs?

MR PATEL: It was – it took place at the working level, Alex.

QUESTION: Who initiated that?

MR PATEL: Again, I’m just not going to get into the specifics of this beyond what I already outlined.

QUESTION: And was there any – I’m just curious. This is the first high-level meeting between U.S. and Russian officials out —

MR PATEL: Again, I just called it – it was a meeting that took place at the working level, Alex, and again, this was a specific topic on the issue of humanitarian needs in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. That was the scope and the context of this meeting. I would not expand it or overinterpret this to mean anything else. `

QUESTION: Yeah. I wonder how frustrated are you that two days after that meeting, the dominos started falling?

MR PATEL: Broadly, this is a situation that we have continued to be deeply concerning about. I don’t want to boil down on one specific moment. But we’re of course concerned by the situation after the recent hostilities, and it has resulted in over 100,000 ethnic Armenians fleeing the Nagorno-Karabakh region into Armenia, and we’re closely monitoring the situation on the ground. Of course, we continue to be concerned and paying close attention to the humanitarian impacts. That’s why – part of the reason why this meeting had been taking place.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) Nagorno-Karabakh – it’s just very detailed —

MR PATEL: I’m going to work the room a little bit given the hard out.

Said, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Vedant. Very quickly, the Israeli authorities, the Israeli military authorities, prevented British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly from visiting the Palestinian village of Ein Samiya. I wonder if you’re aware of that, if you have any comment on that. They also prevented other European diplomats. This village had recently been basically emptied of Palestinians.

MR PATEL: Let me say a couple of things, Said. As a general matter, we acknowledge that Israel makes determinations relating to its security, and our understanding – our limited understanding of this is that this was a decision made around – it was a security decision made in coordination with relative security partners. So the Government of Israel and of course our partners in the United Kingdom can speak more specifically about the foreign secretary’s travels and anything about his trip.

But what I will just say is that the U.S. remains committed to engaging Israeli leadership on this issue, on the issues of settler violence, and we continue to have robust engagement, including engagement on the ground to visit and engage with these affected communities.

QUESTION: But you agree that Israel should allow foreign diplomats, including American diplomats, to go into villages and places —

MR PATEL: Again, Said —

QUESTION: — in the West Bank that – where crimes are – crimes against —

MR PATEL: — this was a – this was a —

QUESTION: — the public —

MR PATEL: — decision made rooted in security, and so I will just leave it at that.

QUESTION: Okay. Just two quick – on the Palestinian issue. Israel, every time there is a holiday, Israel closes all Palestinian neighborhoods and so on. I mean, couldn’t they just celebrate whatever rituals they can without basically imprisoning the Palestinians’ home and making life very difficult – life is already difficult – making it far more difficult during the holiday? Do you have any comment on that?

MR PATEL: Said, as a general matter, we believe that authorities should respect peaceful prayer and assembly. I’m certainly not going to stand up here and tell any community how they should observe any religious holiday. That would be improper for me to do so.

Diyar, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Vedant.

MR PATEL: Yeah.

QUESTION: The U.S.-backed forces, Syrian Democratic Forces, they denied their involvement in the recent attack in Türkiye. And the SDF commander, Mazloum Abdi, in a tweet says that Türkiye is looking for a pretext to legitimize its ongoing attacks on the region, and he urged the United States and also the international community to take appropriate position to this Turkish preparation for extending its military operations into northwest Syria. What’s your comment and position on that?

MR PATEL: So we recognize the legitimate security threat that the PKK poses to Türkiye. The U.S. also remains concerned about the military escalation in northern Syria. In particular, we’re concerned about the impact on civilian populations and the effectiveness that it could place on the efforts that have been ongoing to defeat ISIS. We continue to advocate for de-escalation and the maintenance of ceasefires as a key pillar of our policy in the region, and we continue to coordinate with Türkiye and that they should coordinate its actions with Iraq in a way that supports and respects Iraqi sovereignty.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: A follow-up?

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR PATEL: Yeah.

QUESTION: The Turkish foreign minister today said that two PKK/YPG terrorists who attempted Sunday’s terror attack in Ankara came from Syria. He also said that the PKK/YPG terror group facilities in Iraq and Syria are legitimate targets of Türkiye. Do you have anything on that?

MR PATEL: So the U.S. stands firmly with our NATO Ally Türkiye and the Turkish people in their fight against the PKK, which has been designated an FTO by the United States. On these specific claims, though, we have not received enough adequate information to confirm those, so I don’t have anything to offer from here.

Go ahead, Janne.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Well, hold on. Just stay on this for one second.

MR PATEL: Yeah.

QUESTION: I want to make sure that I get this —

MR PATEL: Yeah.

QUESTION: — a hundred percent right. You say you stand firmly with Türkiye on the threat that the PKK poses.

MR PATEL: Correct.

QUESTION: But you have left out the YPG, which is – the Turks conflate the two. Is it still the U.S. position that these are separate and that – then that – and that the YPG does not pose a threat to Türkiye?

MR PATEL: That is the case. I am not here to change longstanding U.S. policy.

QUESTION: Okay. So you don’t stand firmly with Türkiye.

MR PATEL: We stand firmly with Türkiye —

QUESTION: You stand firmly with – on the PKK, but you don’t stand firm – I mean, on their broader position, you don’t agree with.

MR PATEL: Matt, we can splice this a million ways, I’m sure. But —

QUESTION: I don’t know that we’re splicing anything. It’s just you don’t agree. They say the PKK and the YPG are both threats to them.

MR PATEL: We recognize —

QUESTION: And you don’t agree with the second part of that, right?

MR PATEL: We recognize the legitimate security – the threat that the PKK poses to Türkiye. We stand with them on the specific claim that she asked.

QUESTION: Let me ask the question then directly.

MR PATEL: All right.

QUESTION: Does the YPG – do you think the YPG – excuse me – poses a threat to Türkiye?

MR PATEL: I don’t have a security assessment like that to offer from up here.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) the Türkiye assessment that YPG poses a threat to Türkiye (inaudible), and you support them. Why?

MR PATEL: Again, I will just say that we have been very clear about the PKK. We have designated them as an FTO. We stand with our Turkish allies on this. On the claim that you mentioned about the origination from Syria, I just don’t have anything for you on that.

Can we stay —

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR PATEL: Okay.

QUESTION: Sorry.

MR PATEL: And then I’ll – okay, go ahead.

QUESTION: Yeah. You see YPG and PKK as two different groups, or do you think there is any links between these two groups?

MR PATEL: I think I answered that question when speaking to Matt. I have no updates to offer, no – they’re two separate entities.

Joseph, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thanks, Vedant. Quickly on Iran. The UN arms embargo is expiring later this month. I know we discussed it in this room a couple times leading up, but obviously the time is – there’s a time crunch. Can you update us on any plans on what you guys plan to do, if you’re looking to extend the arms embargo or not?

MR PATEL: So we continue to have a number of tools at our disposal to hold Iran’s dangerous development and proliferation of missile-related technologies and UAVs – to hold those things accountable. Obviously, UNSCR 2231 is not the only tool that is at our disposal. We have our own sanctions authorities. We have export controls. We have bilateral and multilateral engagements. We have already effectively targeted the same networks and individuals that would have been covered under a 2231 UNSCR violation, and we’ll continue to use our own sanctions authorities to hold the Iranian regime accountable.

QUESTION: So are you prepared to just let it expire if you’re not able to reach an agreement with your allies?

MR PATEL: I just – I don’t have anything to preview on that right now. But, again, we have pretty credibly – if you look at our track record on this since the inception of this administration – have held the Iranian regime accountable for its malign and destabilizing activities, and we’ll continue to do so.

QUESTION: And just quickly, just to follow up – sorry, I’m not – this morning —

MR PATEL: Yeah.

QUESTION: — earlier CENTCOM announced that earlier this week they – there were seized weapons from Iran heading to Yemen’s Houthis that they have now transferred to the Ukrainians. Can you say – previously you’ve said that you’ve seen these weapons transfers continue. Can you speak to any – have you seen that – have you seen more of that in recent months, and are you looking to any other weapons that have been seized? Are you guys looking to transfer those to Ukraine as well?

MR PATEL: So the Pentagon can speak more on this. Of course, this – CENTCOM put a statement out. I don’t have anything else to offer. I think what I will just note is that we’re continuing to monitor the situation. As it relates to anything else on this, the Pentagon can speak to.

QUESTION: Well, on that, does the embargo – I mean, was it ever asked with – inside the administration or in this building or elsewhere that you’re aware of whether the transfer of Iranian weaponry, the export of it by a third country, meaning the United States, violates the arms embargo?

MR PATEL: Well, Matt, I’m very glad you asked about the legal mechanism on this. In the legislative language authorizing the Department of Defense’s Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which they, of course, I’m sure would be happy to speak to you more about, the Secretary of Defense is authorized, with the concurrence of the Secretary of State, to make available to the Government of Ukraine weapons and other defense articles from the United States and other sources. This obviously is one of those other sources.

QUESTION: Well, that’s wonderful, but that doesn’t take into account the fact that there’s a UN arms embargo. So was there any discussion of whether this might be a – I realize it’s not Iran sending —

MR PATEL: Correct.

QUESTION: — weapons to Ukraine such – like they had sent weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, but it’s still Iranian weaponry leaving their country and going to a third one. And so that’s not a – I mean, I was wondering if it came up.

MR PATEL: That’s our understanding. Correct. That’s our understanding, that it’s not.

QUESTION: So it’s not a violation of the embargo?

MR PATEL: Correct.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR PATEL: Yeah. Alex, go ahead. Janne, and then I’ll come to you after. I’m so sorry.

QUESTION: Just to follow on that, is this – and it is State that announces the PDA. So I understand that we can ask DOD, but a lot of this does have to do with State. Do you expect this – these seizures and these transfers then to Ukraine to be part of an ongoing strategy, a larger strategy, at a time when, obviously, the Ukrainians have low levels of all kinds of ammunition and there are huge questions about American funding? Is this something that we’re going to see more of, going forward?

MR PATEL: Well, first, broadly, this – as you know, this is not the first time that we have seized Iranian security systems or assets historically. But I don’t want to just speculate or offer an analysis on the provision of our – a new strategy when it’s our – when it comes to the provision of our security assistance to our Ukrainian partners. I think we have a very clear track record of ensuring that our Ukrainian partners have the systems and the assets that they need to defend themselves, and I don’t want to speculate on if there will be more or less of these kinds of transfers.

QUESTION: Can I just follow up on the Egypt question?

MR PATEL: Sure.

QUESTION: To put a finer point on it – and apologies if I didn’t understand – that 235 – is that done? My understanding was that it had expired, gone back to Treasury, because of the end of the fiscal year. Are we still discussing that same tranche? Does the national security waiver trump the hold that Senator Cardin put on this?

MR PATEL: These are cross – these are things that are – that we are actively engaging Congress on. We are engaging on them on this. As I said, the Secretary continues to stand by our decision to waive the certain conditions in the U.S. national security interest for this 235 million. I, again, would view this not as a singular moment in time decision. This is something that we are engaging on with Congress, and the Egyptians on as well.

Janne, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Vedant. Two questions on China and North Korea. It is reported that a sanctioned North Korean oil tanker (inaudible) settles in Chinese port. Do you think that China is violating UN Security Council?

MR PATEL: A North Korean tanker is at a Chinese port – is that the question?

QUESTION: Yes.

MR PATEL: I just don’t have anything on that for you.

QUESTION: Because this is already a sanctioned ships in the Weihai Chinese port, because Chinese is against the UN sanctions.

MR PATEL: Certainly. If it’s a sanctioned vessel, any kind of subversions of sanctions against that would, of course, be concerning. But I’m not aware of this specific scenario. We’ve long said that as it relates to the DPRK we believe that Beijing has a – can have a constructive role to play in reining in some of their destabilizing activities, and that continues to be the case.

QUESTION: North Korea. Kim Jong-un criticized the United States, saying that the reason they traded arms with Russia is because the United States acting hostile towards North Korea. What is your reaction to this?

MR PATEL: I think I’ve said this a number of times before, and it continues to be the case. We are not, in any way, harboring any hostilities towards the DPRK. In fact, when we talk about our ultimate goal of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, we are very clear in the fact that we continue to believe that we’re ready to engage with Pyongyang without preconditions, and that continues to be the case.

You had your hand up. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thanks, Verdant. So last week I asked the State Department about the possibility of U.S. weapons ending up in the hands of radical groups in Ukraine, and Matt Miller told me there are systems to track and monitor this. But I just did a brief scroll through the Azov Battalion’s Telegram channel, which is a neo-Nazi group within the Ukrainian military, and they weren’t even really hiding it. I mean, there are high-resolution photos of U.S.-manufactured, U.S.-provided MaxxPros, which are large, armored personnel carriers. And so my question is how could this have snuck by our monitoring systems? And is there a process for, now that we know they have them, to work with Ukraine and get them out of the hands of a radical group like Azov Battalion?

MR PATEL: So I’m not going to comment on just a specific scenario like this one because I’ve not seen the reporting that you’re speaking of. So I will just reiterate again what Matt said, is that we have systems in place to ensure and track the appropriate use of our assets and the security equipment that we’ve provisioned to our Ukrainian partners.

I will also just note that the people of Ukraine have also been clear about their desire for good governance and transparency, and that we continue to see strong and decisive action from Ukraine’s government and anti-corruption institutions. I’m not trying to imply that – I’m not trying to link this to the situation you described. I’m just saying broadly, in the context of this conversation, that continues to be our point of view.

QUESTION: Could you share a specific on kind of how they’re tracked and how they’re monitored? Because this is – and I can show you after. It’s straight from their social media page, like the Azov Battalion social media page.

MR PATEL: I’m sure our colleagues at the Department of Defense will be happy to walk you through the systems and procedures and protocols that they have in place for this.

Go ahead, Alex.

QUESTION: Very quickly on Karabakh and one more on Georgia. Do you have anything on Azerbaijan refusing to attend upcoming Karabakh summit hosted by the EU?

MR PATEL: We note that President Aliyev will not participate in the proposed meeting in Granada. And we’ve consistently been clear though that dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan is essential to resolving this longstanding conflict. This is something that the Secretary and others here continue to be deeply engaged on and we will continue to work on this.

QUESTION: Thanks so much. And on Georgia. Georgia parliament today approved amendments that restrict freedom of gathering and (inaudible) from demonstrations. Do you have any position on that – the opposition calls it second Russian war.

MR PATEL: I’ve not those items, Alex, so I will just refrain from commenting.

Okay —

QUESTION: Can I ask you a quick – quick follow-up? He mentioned Azerbaijan.

MR PATEL: Yeah.

QUESTION: France yesterday announced that they were going to provide arms, military aid to Armenia, irking some of our allies, including Türkiye. And does the State Department plan on increasing any military aid? Do you have anything to – not to announce specifically, but is there any change in posture after the recent developments that happened? And from the Hill, you’ve got Senator Cardin today also calling for a halt to military aid to Azerbaijan.

MR PATEL: I have no change in posture to announce. Again, we continue to believe that dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan continues to be incredibly important to finding a dignified and durable peace for the South Caucasus. It’s why the Secretary has engaged on this so personally, continuing to speak with counterparts and interlocutors in both countries.

QUESTION: Have you guys consulted with – did the French consult you before this decision?

MR PATEL: I’m just not going to get into private diplomatic conversations.

Okay, thanks, everybody.

(The briefing was concluded at 1:46 p.m.)

Department Press Briefing – October 3, 2023

HomeDepartment Press Briefing – October 3, 2023

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Department Press Briefing – October 3, 2023

Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy Spokesperson

Washington, D.C.

October 3, 2023

Article Index

CANADA / INDIA
CHINA / INDIA
INDIA / MALDIVES
ARMENIA / AZERBAIJAN / RUSSIA
KOSOVO / SERBIA
ISRAEL / PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES / SAUDI ARABIA
IRAN
EGYPT
IRAN / RUSSIA
SWEDEN
CHINA
INDIA
PAKISTAN / AFGHANISTAN
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
SAUDI ARABIA
GEORGIA / RUSSIA

1:19 p.m. EDT

MR PATEL: Good afternoon, everybody. I’m going to – where is this? Okay.

QUESTION: What was that noise?

MR PATEL: That was the adjusting thing.

QUESTION: Did you lower or raise it?

MR PATEL: What do you think? I lowered it. (Laughter.) I lowered it, of course. I am not of Matt Miller height, so – with that, I don’t have anything off the top, so Matt, if you want to kick us off.

QUESTION: Okay. I don’t really have anything directly – well, specifically directly with the U.S. But I wanted to ask you what your thoughts, the administration’s thoughts, are about the apparent escalation in this India-China – I mean, India-Canada dispute.

MR PATEL: So, Matt, I don’t really have anything new to sort of offer on this that both Matt and the Secretary haven’t spoke to already, I would say, in the number of times it has come up before the press in the past week or so. I would just reiterate again we are, and continue to be, deeply concerned about the allegations referenced by Prime Minister Trudeau, and we remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. And it’s critical that Canada’s investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice. We also have, as we previously said, publicly and privately urged the Indian Government to cooperate in the Canadian investigation and cooperate in those efforts.

QUESTION: Yeah. But are you not concerned that if Canada reciprocates in terms of mass expulsion of Indian diplomats from Canada, that this will trigger a – kind of an avalanche-type effect?

MR PATEL: So I’ve —

QUESTION: And that could impact your Indo-Pacific strategy?

MR PATEL: I’ve seen the reports on the diplomatic staffing levels for the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi. But I don’t have anything further to offer on those reports, and certainly don’t want to get into hypotheticals and take this process one step at a time. As it relates to our Indo-Pacific strategy and the focus that we continue to place on the region, that effort and that line of work is going to continue; and of course, with India, we are partners with them in the Quad and in many other fora. And we continue to work with them and other countries in the region on a number of important issues.

But as I said at the top of this, we take these allegations very seriously, and we continue to not just work closely with our Canadian partners, but have, as I said, publicly and privately urged the Indian Government to cooperate with Canada also.

Simon, go ahead.

QUESTION: India, a slightly different India topic. There was a raid on the offices of a news outlet called Newsclick, and some of the journalists for the outlet had their homes raided, I believe, as well. So on one hand there’s been some outcry about – from press organizations in India, saying this is an infringement on the free press. So I’m interested in your response to that.

But separately, the – well, or relatedly – there is also an allegation related to this that this news outlet was part of a Chinese influence operation that’s funded through a network, according to The New York Times, of an American businessman. So I guess on those two separate points, do you want to respond to – do you have any comment on these raids? And do you have any information on the potential Chinese influence operation that might be connected to this?

MR PATEL: Let me take your second question first. So we are aware of those concerns and have seen that reporting about this outlet’s ties to the PRC, but we can’t comment yet on the veracity of those claims. Separately of course, though, the U.S. Government strongly supports the robust role of the media globally, including social media, in a vibrant and free democracy, and we raise concerns on these matters with the Indian Government, with countries around the world, through our diplomatic engagements that are, of course, at the core of our bilateral relationship.

And we have urged the Indian Government, and have done so not just with India but other countries as well, about the importance of respecting the human rights of journalists, including freedom of expression both online and offline. I don’t have additional information, Simon, though, about this particular circumstance or any of the underlying issues that may or may not be related to this outlet, however.

QUESTION: Sure. Thank you.

QUESTION: Could I stay with an India theme for now?

MR PATEL: Sure.

QUESTION: Maldives.

MR PATEL: Yeah.

QUESTION: I know there was a statement, I believe, over the weekend on the election, congratulating the winner. But the president-elect of Maldives has spoken today about removing Indian forces from there. He’s widely perceived as being a bit more of a tilt toward Beijing. Does the U.S. have anything to say about this?

MR PATEL: I don’t. This is a matter between the Maldives and India, of course. What I will just say broadly is what we have – this is consistent around the world – is that we have never tried to imply one way or the other that any country is required to make any kind of decision about the kinds of exclusionary partnerships that it enters in through its bilateral relationships, whether it be with China or the United States or India or any other country.

QUESTION: Sure. Could I ask something on a different topic?

MR PATEL: Sure.

QUESTION: Unless somebody wants to pursue that.

MR PATEL: No, no.

QUESTION: Just on Armenia, Armenia joining the Rome Statute for the ICC. Obviously, the U.S. is not part of that, but this is something that’s gotten quite a reaction, particularly from the Kremlin.

MR PATEL: Right.

QUESTION: Do you have any general comment on Armenia doing this, and what it means?

MR PATEL: Well, we respect Armenia’s sovereignty and independence, and we’ll leave it to Armenia’s Government to comment on its legislative processes, of course. We respect the right of every country to join the ICC and have been encouraged by many states, including Armenia, that have undertaken commitments to promote justice, accountability for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

QUESTION: Still on the South Caucasus?

MR PATEL: Sure. Go ahead, Alex.

QUESTION: Thanks, Vedant. Welcome back to the podium.

MR PATEL: Thanks.

QUESTION: Same topic. We have seen increasing rhetoric coming out of Russia, threatening Armenia for the very step it has taken. Will the United States step up and defend Armenia against potential Russian aggression, either directly through its army or through its proxy forces, like there are reports about Wagner being present?

MR PATEL: That is a – is quite the hypothetical, Alex, that I don’t want to get into. What I will say, though, is that the United States is going to continue to play a role in engaging with Azerbaijani and Armenian leadership at the highest levels to pursue a dignified and durable peace.

And you’ve also seen us, over the course of this past week and beyond, reiterate our call for a longer-term, independent, international monitoring mission in Nagorno-Karabakh to provide transparency and reassurances that the rights and securities of ethnic Armenians will be protected, particularly for those who may wish to return, and for the protection of cultural heritage sites, which all of course is in line with Azerbaijan’s public statements and their international obligations as well.

QUESTION: On that line, let me ask you about Russian presence in Karabakh. Last week, Matt told us that you guys didn’t find it helpful during the events that happened previous week. The question is: Do you subscribe to concerns that Russian army, particularly after Armenians population have left the region, is there – for not maintain the peace in Karabakh but to keep the piece of Karabakh?

MR PATEL: To keep the what?

QUESTION: The piece of Karabakh. Not for peace in –

MR PATEL: Ah. Interesting wordplay there, Alex. Again, I just don’t want to speculate. I, again, would echo what Matt said – of course, that that kind of presence continues to be concerning. But the United States is going to continue to remain focused on engaging with Azerbaijani and Armenian leadership on this, and doing whatever we can to continue to have a dignified and durable peace on this.

QUESTION: Same topic.

QUESTION: Thank you. I have one on Georgia if you come back to me later.

MR PATEL: I’ll come back to you on Georgia. Go ahead, yeah.

QUESTION: According to the UN spokesperson yesterday, the UN team visiting Karabakh did not see any damage to civilian infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, and housing, or to cultural and religious sites. Do you have any comment on that?

MR PATEL: So we certainly appreciate that – those comments from the UN spokesperson. But that does not change the United States’ point of view on this. As I just said to Alex, we continue to believe, even in the light of the UN visit, that there is a strong desire and a need for a longer-term, independent international monitoring mission in Nagorno-Karabakh. We think that that will provide transparency; we think that it will provide the appropriate reassurances for the various rights and securities that we continue to be deeply concerned about.

QUESTION: Can I have a quick one on Serbia?

MR PATEL: Sure. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Yesterday Matt said he wasn’t able to verify the reports about Serbia’s withdrawal from the Kosovo border. Do you have any updates since yesterday?

MR PATEL: So we do. We have been quite clear about our concerns, and we are deeply concerned about the rising cycle of tensions and sporadic violence in northern Kosovo. We’ve been monitoring an unprecedented staging of advanced Serbian artillery, tanks, and mechanized infantry units, along the border with Kosovo. And we’ve called on Serbia to withdraw forces from the border and lower tensions as well. We’ve noted some withdrawal of forces and materiel along the border of Kosovo since September 29th, and we expect Serbia to continue de-escalatory steps, including continued withdrawal of forces to or below historical norms.

QUESTION: Can I just do a quick follow-up with –

MR PATEL: Sure. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Just the – there was an arrest by Serbia of somebody involved in the killing in Kosovo, of a Kosovo police officer in September, that – it was one of the triggers of this tension. Do you have anything more specifically to say about that?

MR PATEL: So we have seen those reports, Shaun. We’re not going to get ahead of the investigation. And as we’ve said, we know that the attack was well coordinated and planned, and everyone who was involved in planning and carrying out this attack must be brought to justice.

Michel, go ahead.

QUESTION: Yeah. I have a couple of questions. First, on the normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

MR PATEL: Yeah.

QUESTION: The White House announced on the weekend that there’s a basic framework for the normalization. Can you elaborate on that?

MR PATEL: I’m not going to get ahead of this process, Michel. So what I will just leave it at is that many of the key elements of a pathway towards normalization are now on the table, and there is broad understanding of those elements, which we’re certainly not going to get into the specifics of these diplomatic engagements publicly.

What I will also say is that this requires – the specifics require an incredible amount of legwork, diplomacy, discipline, rigor, and all of the stakeholders being deeply engaged in this. I will note, though, we don’t have a formal framework and we don’t have the terms ready to be signed. There’s still lots of work to do, and we’re continuing to work that process.

We believe, though, as part of our efforts to advance a more peaceful, secure, and prosperous and stable Middle East region, that continuing our support for full normalization with Israel and continue to talk to our regional partners about how more progress can be made. And that’s going to – what we’re going to continue to stay focused on.

QUESTION: Okay.

QUESTION: Sorry. What – hold on.

QUESTION: Can I follow up? Can I follow up?

QUESTION: Wait, wait. Hold on one second. You just said it requires an incredible amount of diplomacy, discipline, and rigor? Is that right?

MR PATEL: Yes. Yes.

QUESTION: Is there another word in there that I missed?

MR PATEL: No, I think that’s it.

QUESTION: Is this a new phrase?

MR PATEL: No, no. It’s just how we are describing the —

QUESTION: Okay. Who came up with that one? I’m curious.

MR PATEL: I’m going to move on. Thank you, Matt.

QUESTION: Can I follow up?

MR PATEL: Sure. I’ll come to Said, then I’ll come back to this side of the room. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Yeah. On this very issue, although Matt’s question is really very important. Rigor – does that mean like ongoing, non-stopping kind of an effort, the full steam ahead? Is that what it means?

MR PATEL: The point that I’m making, Said, is that this is an incredibly mounting task in front of us, one that we think, as the Secretary has said recently, could be transformative for the region, one that we, of course, are continuing to be deeply engaged on and work towards as well. I just don’t want to get ahead of that process.

QUESTION: Okay. So on this very point —

MR PATEL: Yeah.

QUESTION: — both the former ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk, and the former Jordanian ambassador to the UN, Ra’ad Zeid Al Hussein, wrote an article, lengthy article, in Foreign Affairs that says what a Saudi-Israeli deal could mean for the Palestinians. And they are warning you, saying that the real aim of the judicial reform and so on is it’s a ploy that they want to basically form – have an Israeli state from the river to the sea. That is the aim of the right wing. That’s what they’re saying, right wing government of Israeli currently.

And they’re suggesting to you that whatever you want on the Palestinian issue – they list the three components, which is the – whatever, defense-backed and the nuclear issue and so on. But on the Palestinian issue, that you must extract that before you go ahead with any kind of normalization effort. Do you have any comment on this? Do you feel that something must be sort of gotten from the Israelis, cast in concrete, before moving ahead with any normalization?

MR PATEL: Said, a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia will and should include a serious component dealing with the fundamental issues between Israelis and Palestinians. But as I said in answering Michel’s question, I don’t want to get ahead of the process or what that might look like. This is an effort that is ongoing. Again, as the Secretary said, we believe that reaching a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia could be transformative for the region. But much work continues to lie ahead, work, as Matt says or points out, that we said is – will require discipline and rigor and a continued engagement of diplomacy. And so we’ll let that process play out.

QUESTION: Can I just make a suggestion?

MR PATEL: Sure.

QUESTION: And I probably shouldn’t do this. But if you’re going to come up with a phrase like that, say, “diplomacy, discipline, and rigor,” maybe you should try for the alliterative – diplomacy, discipline, and determination. Right? Yeah?

MR PATEL: Thank you. I will take that. I don’t think anybody was trying to —

QUESTION: So you take that back to your people who are —

MR PATEL: I don’t think anybody was trying to come up with a new phrase. We’re just talking about the important work that we have ahead.

QUESTION: The three Ds.

MR PATEL: Go ahead, Said.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) really quick. So just to follow up —

MR PATEL: Yeah.

QUESTION: I mean, going back to the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002, it really is a normalization plan. But it is predicated on the creation of a Palestinian state. So what is the difference between this step-by-step kind of normalization and that one that was really, really grandiose? In other words, it was for all the Arab and Muslim countries to recognize Israel, have wonderful relations and so on, on the premise that there’s a Palestinian state at the end. And that’s what you keep saying. You keep saying that you are committed to the two-state solution. So what is the difference?

MR PATEL: Said, we are committed to a two-state solution. We’ve been very clear about that. But on the subject of this, I don’t know if there – how many different ways I can say it, so I will just be very blunt. There’s still lots of work to do ahead, and we’re working through it, and we’ll have more to share and talk about as this – progress on this proceeds.

QUESTION: Can I just follow up on this, too?

QUESTION: Let me —

QUESTION: What changed from Sunday, when Kirby said that there is a framework, basic framework, to today?

MR PATEL: You’ll have to speak with the White House on what they were referring to. What I will just say again is that this is a process that is in front of us. We’re continuing to work through that. We don’t have a formal framework, but the key elements of a pathway, of course, have been on the table. And that’s something that we’re continuing to work towards.

Guita, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you. Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic in Iran, doesn’t seem to agree with the Biden administration’s view of expanding the Abraham Accords. He actually has called – has said that the Arab countries are gambling, those who want to sign on, and that they’re, quote, “betting on a losing horse.” Any comments?

MR PATEL: No, not really. What I will just say is that I’m not sure that we are really interested in the supreme leader’s point of view on this, when it comes to what we think could be a potentially transformative normalization agreement for the region. What I will also just add is that part of this, of course, with these countries – with Israel, with, of course, Saudi Arabia – the nexus of our bilateral relationships with both of these countries is, of course, the role that they play in countering and combating against the malign and destabilizing activities that the Iranian regime partakes in in the region.

Olivia, go ahead.

QUESTION: Mine is a separate topic.

MR PATEL: Yeah. Anything else in the region before we move away?

QUESTION: The region. Egypt. Sorry about that.

MR PATEL: Okay. Sorry, I promise we’ll get to you.

QUESTION: No worries. No worries.

QUESTION: Senator Ben Cardin pledged to block the release of $235 million in military aid to Egypt unless the country made progress on releasing political prisoners and improving the human rights there. Do you support his view?

MR PATEL: We’re continuing to work and consult closely with Congress and the Egyptian Government on providing the Foreign Military Financing package announced by the Secretary that advances our shared vision for a secure and prosperous region, while ensuring that tangible progress on human rights continues to be made in Egypt. I’m not going to get ahead of that process.

QUESTION: And one more. President Sisi confirmed that he will run for reelection next December. Do you have any comment on that?

MR PATEL: That is an internal domestic matter for Egypt.

QUESTION: Thanks.

QUESTION: I have one in the region.

MR PATEL: Guita and then we’ll close out.

QUESTION: Today, Iran’s foreign minister has commented on something that happened during the previous U.S. administration, and that is the —

MR PATEL: Which previous U.S. administration? The immediate previous?

QUESTION: The Trump, yes. The immediate.

MR PATEL: Got it.

QUESTION: The Trump administration. He was talking about the killing of Qasem Soleimani and that after that the U.S., the White House communicated with them on a number of occasions telling them: don’t retaliate; we’ll lift some sanctions on you or that – let us tell you how to retaliate. And then eventually, when Iran did attack the Ayn al-Asad base in Iraq, the White House said – communicated with them again and told them that: all right, that’s enough, stop it. So do you have – does this administration have any comments, any insight into that?

MR PATEL: Does this administration have any comment on something that the former administration did as it relates to their engagements with Iran?

QUESTION: Well, do you think the Iranian foreign minister now, at this point in time, talking about that – does that – what does that tell you? What do you think?

MR PATEL: I try not to get in the minds of foreign interlocutors and certainly not in the – that country in particular is probably one that I would avoid as well. So I really don’t have anything to offer on that.

QUESTION: Okay. Just one last one.

MR PATEL: Okay. Last one, Guita. I’ve got to work the room. Yeah.

QUESTION: Yes, yes. I promise. They also unveiled a new type of drone today and they’re talking about electronic warfare. Do you see that as a – electronic warfare as a possibility with Iran, boosting its capability not only in case there is any interaction with the U.S., but also with regards to export of its goods to Russia and other countries?

MR PATEL: Of course. I think the use of Iranian military equipment, whatever it may be – I certainly don’t want to get into the technical specifics – but the use of any of it of course poses a risk of it continuing to play a bigger role in the already existing malign and destabilizing activities that the Iranian regime already partakes in. We have seen – we spent so much of this past year and the year before talking about the deepening security partnership with – between the Iranian regime and the Russian Federation. And so of course, any kind of new potential system of course poses the potential risk to make worse these already deeply violent and destabilizing activities that we know the Iranian regime is going to partake in.

What the U.S. is going to do is we’ll continue to use the tools at our disposal to hold the Iranian regime accountable and we’ll do so in close conjunction with our allies and partners both through the E.U. and the E3 and the other relevant multilateral organizations that we engage with so closely to hold the Iranian regime accountable.

Olivia, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, Vedant. The readout of the Secretary’s call with his Swedish counterpart today noted that the two discussed final preparations for Sweden’s accession to NATO. I’m just wondering what the expectation here is for the timing of that accession given that the Turkish parliament has delayed that vote apparently.

MR PATEL: So I have been doing this long enough to know to not to assign too finite timelines on anything. What I will just say – and we have been clear about this going back to even before the NATO Summit in Vilnius earlier this summer – we believe that Sweden is ready to formally ascend to NATO. We believe that they have met the conditions that they have been in discussions with our Turkish partners as well.

So again, we’re just going to continue to engage deeply on this and let this process play out. I don’t want to assign a timeline to this.

QUESTION: Okay. Where do the discussions on the F-16s to Türkiye stand?

MR PATEL: As we have been very clear about before, this is – that’s an issue before Congress and so I’m just not going to get ahead of that process.

QUESTION: So no update on that one?

MR PATEL: I have no updates for you.

All right. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thanks, Vedant. Nishant for Nikkei. I just wanted to get your thoughts on Leader Schumer’s planned delegation to China and what the goals of this trip – how the goals might contrast from the goals of previous senior administration officials’ visits earlier this year.

MR PATEL: Well, it’s a totally different entity of the U.S. Federal Government, so you’ll have to ask them. Again, Congress is a separate but co-equal branch of our government. Of course, when a CODEL travels to any foreign location there of course is a State Department component in helping coordinate any necessary logistics and things like that, but on outcomes for the visit, goals, things like that, I would encourage you to speak to Senator Schumer’s office.

QUESTION: President Biden has said to be supportive of the trip. Do you think it could be used to lay the groundwork for a potential Biden-Xi summit at APEC?

MR PATEL: I’m just not going to – don’t want to speculate or get ahead of any scheduling. And again, this is something that the senator’s office can speak more to.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR PATEL: Jahanzaib, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, sir. Jahanzaib from ARY. You just spoke in detail about India-Canada tensions, but what is U.S. position on the Khalistan issue? Because there are thousands of Sikhs living in United States and there is a U.S.-based education group Sikhs for Justice managing the Khalistan referendum. So is there any policy on that or it’s just a matter of free speech?

MR PATEL: So we’re not going to comment on the unofficial referendum. What I will just say is that, broadly across the board, individuals have the right to freedoms of speech, right to peacefully assemble in the United States, all of which are in line with our First Amendment protections and adherence, of course, to any appropriate federal and local regulations. So I will just leave it at that.

QUESTION: Sir, Pakistan ordered all illegal immigrants, including 1.73 million Afghan nationals, to leave the country as soon as possible. A Pakistani official says that 14 of 24 suicide bombings in the country this year were carried out by Afghan nationals. Are you concerned that the huge number of Afghan nationals is being —

MR PATEL: I’ve not seen that comment or the specific reporting that might be rooted in that specific statistic. What I will just say, though, that – is that Pakistan has been an important partner when it has come to the resettlement of Afghans who are fleeing and looking to resettle. They’ve been an important stopover in that process and we’ll just leave it at that.

QUESTION: I have one last question if you are —

MR PATEL: Sure.

QUESTION: Thank you so much. Sir, in the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week, the chairman of the committee, McCaul, said that the Biden administration officials attempting to downplay the Taliban’s terrorist ties in an effort to exclude them from an update Authorized Use of Military Force, AUMF. Would you like to respond to that?

MR PATEL: There is nobody in this administration that is attempting to downplay the Taliban and the type of organization that they are. They’ve been labeled an FTO. There’s been no change in that. So we’ll see if we have anything more to add on that, though.

Shannon, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thanks, Vedant. I’d like to ask about the case of Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos.

MR PATEL: Mm-hmm.

QUESTION: She’s a 21-year-old college student studying in New York, and she apparently transited through Dubai and was sentenced to a year in jail after being accused of assaulting and insulting airport staff in the country. Is the State Department providing any assistance or working to bring her home?

MR PATEL: So we are aware of the sentencing of this U.S. citizen in Dubai and we take seriously our commitment to assist U.S. citizens abroad and are providing all appropriate consular assistance. The department is in communication with her and her family and we’re going to continue to monitor her case and be involved.

QUESTION: One follow-up. Some independent groups are calling for the State Department to issue increased warnings for American travelers who might want to visit the UAE because of detentions like this one and some other high-profile cases. Does the State Department see validity to those concerns?

MR PATEL: And what were the groups you were saying at the beginning?

QUESTION: A couple of independent groups. The Detained in Dubai is a prominent one that’s been raising the alarm.

MR PATEL: Got you. Well, Shannon, this is not the first time that I – we’ve been asked about someone facing a potential consular issue while abroad, and in this circumstance and in many others you’ve seen me once again reiterate the importance of American citizens who are traveling abroad to cross-reference travel.state.gov for the appropriate travel advice and the travel – I don’t want to say “warnings,” but guidelines that may exist in any country or jurisdiction that they may be traveling or transiting to. And we continue to believe that is one of the best sources for information in addition to doing the appropriate steps, like registering in Smart Traveler and things like that.

Simon, you’ve had your hand up.

QUESTION: Yeah. Yesterday was the five-year anniversary of the death of – the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. I’m wondering why the – was there a decision made not to put out any statement on the anniversary?

MR PATEL: I don’t have a specific reason that I am aware of. We, of course, have talked about Jamal’s murder quite regularly from this podium and even beyond. One of the first things that Secretary Blinken did once he was confirmed was come down to this very briefing room and talk about the report in which it, at great length, went into the details around Jamal’s murder.

It is something also we have continued to raise directly with Saudi Arabia. The Secretary and the President spoke about this quite clearly on their travel to the region together last summer, and of course the protection of journalists and the respect for the First Amendment and respecting the human rights of journalists is something that we continue to raise directly with countries around the world.

QUESTION: So his case is something that still comes up in every interaction with the Saudis?

MR PATEL: I’m certainly not going to get into the specifics of diplomatic engagements. What I will just say is that it’s something that we have raised.

QUESTION: And so for the three-year anniversary the department did put out a statement, obviously. What has changed in the last two years about the importance of this case?

MR PATEL: I certainly don’t want to imply that there has been any change in the importance of this case. The department puts out statements on a lot of things; we also don’t put out statements on a lot of things that are also important. So I don’t have a decision-making rubric to provide for you. What I will just say again is that we have talked about Jamal’s murder quite clearly and will continue to do so as appropriate.

QUESTION: And I think one of the things that the statements – sorry to press on this —

MR PATEL: Yeah.

QUESTION: — but some of the statements a couple of years ago when you were talking a lot about this case were talking about the importance that his murder not be in vain. We – this was coming from the President: “we owe it to his memory to fight for a more just and free world.” And at the time, you guys announced this new thing called a Khashoggi ban, and I think initially 76 Saudi individuals were visa-banned under that. Does that still exist? And how many additionally – additional people have been given Khashoggi bans? We don’t seem to hear that phrase —

MR PATEL: I’m happy to check if we have any updated metrics on visa restrictions in place. I don’t have the – that information readily handy for me.

QUESTION: I’m also waiting for the statement on Nixon and Kissinger’s visit to China, the anniversary of that. Is that coming any time soon, now that it’s almost a year later?

MR PATEL: Alex, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thanks, Vedant. We’ll go back to Georgia, if you don’t mind.

MR PATEL: Yeah.

QUESTION: You know the Georgian ruling, pro-Russian party is pursuing with its initial plan to go after the president, impeaching her for her trip to Europe. Now, let me get your reaction to that. But broadly speaking, yesterday, we were discussing with Matt how Georgian Government is targeting the USAID, U.S. embassy, civil society, journalists who ask questions, just name it. Does it require a policy response from Washington?

MR PATEL: So let me boil down specifically unto the mention of USAID that you just highlighted. Our embassy in Tbilisi put out a very clear statement about this, and – which I’ll just reiterate here, in that allegations against one of our assistance projects are false and are – fundamentally mischaracterize the goals of our assistance to Georgia. As always, our assistance is transparent. And we will continue to support Georgian organizations that work to secure fundamental rights provided by the Georgian constitution and Georgia’s international commitments and obligations.

QUESTION: And anything on the impeachment of the president that they are – they just started the process, their constitutional court.

MR PATEL: I don’t have anything for you on that.

QUESTION: And one more, if you don’t mind. Last week marked 30 years from occupation of Abkhazia. As you know, 20 percent of Georgia is under occupation. The fact that Georgian pro-Russian regime is in bed with Russia doesn’t take away from the fact that 20 percent of the country is under occupation. Is the U.S. still part of the peace process, like Geneva process, and who is in charge of the process from the U.S. side? I haven’t seen Ambassador Louis Bono going to Georgia lately.

MR PATEL: Alex, let me broaden the aperture a little bit. The Russian-occupied regions are integral parts of Georgia, and we fully support Georgia’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized border. I will also note, Alex, that we continue to partner with the people of Georgia as they pursue a democratic, prosperous, peaceful, and Euro-Atlantic future. And we urge the Georgian Government to implement the necessary reforms to acquire EU candidate status, and we stand ready to assist the government in doing so.

You had your hand up in the back? We’ll do last question. Go ahead.

QUESTION: First of all, thank you for your support you are providing to Georgians over the years. And I just want to now follow up on Alex’s question. He had described – characterized the Georgian Government as the pro-Russian political force, and you didn’t comment on it. Do you agree? Or let me put it this way: Do you consider the Georgian Government as the pro-Russian political force?

MR PATEL: I’m just not going to categorize it like that one way or the other. That would be inappropriate for me to do. What I will just reiterate is, again, that we continue to partner with the people of Georgia as they pursue a democratic, prosperous, and peaceful Euro-Atlantic future.

All right. Thanks, everybody.

(The briefing was concluded at 1:55 p.m.)

Department Press Briefing – November 6, 2023

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