White House denies approving Israeli raid on Al-Shifa hospital
The White House said the United States did not give Israel any kind of approval or green light for the raid on Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital.
John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator at the National Security Council, said in a call with reporters Wednesday that the United States “does not approve of the operations carried out by the Israeli army around the Al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip, and we did not give our approval to the operation,” underlining that the United States maintains the same approach with respect to other military decisions taken by Israel.
Kirby added: “We have always been very clear with our Israeli partners about the importance of minimizing civilian casualties. “We were also very clear with them about the need to pay particular attention when it comes to hospitals.”
President Joe Biden had communicated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday evening, and a brief White House statement said the conversation included recent developments around Gaza and efforts to secure a deal to release hostages held by the Hamas movement, including a large number of children and a number of Americans.
Kirby declined to say whether the US president had previously received information about the Israeli operation and said: “I won’t go into the details of the conversation.”
This change in the White House’s position comes after it supported Israeli claims that Hamas has a command center affiliated with Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza.
Kirby told reporters accompanying President Biden to the APEC summit in San Francisco: “I can confirm that we have information indicating that (Hamas) and (Islamic Jihad) have used some hospitals in Gaza, including Al-Shifa Hospital and the tunnels underneath, to hide and support military operations” and the taking of hostages. He added that the leaders of the two movements operated a command and control point from Al-Shifa hospital and stored weapons there. Kirby stressed: “The Biden administration is not in favor of hitting the hospital from the sky.” He also said: “The administration also does not want to see civilians seeking treatment trapped in a firefight inside the hospital.”
A change in the American mood
In a related context, an opinion poll indicated that although Americans sympathize with Israel in its war against the Hamas movement, a growing number of Americans believe that Israel’s response has been extremely violent and harsh. The number of Americans feeling the severity of Israeli operations in Gaza is increasing compared to last month.
The results of the poll conducted by American National Radio and National Broadcasting Services with the Merest Institute for Opinion Polls showed that 38 percent of Americans believe that Israel’s military response to Hamas has been “excessive.” This represents an increase of 12 percentage points compared to October. Americans’ opinions varied on whether the United States should play a major role in global events, including Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and the recent outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas.
Thirty-six percent of Americans believe the country should not accept more funding for the war in Ukraine or Israel, while 35% believe the United States should support additional funding in both countries. About half of Republicans and a majority of independents said the United States “should take a limited role in foreign policy matters,” and about half of Americans believe it is important for the United States to play a major leadership role in global affairs. Meanwhile, 47% believe the United States has enough domestic problems to handle and should do less on the global stage.
Deep divisions and fears
The poll indicated that 6 in 10 Americans say their sympathies lie primarily with Israel, while 3 in 10 say they are more sympathetic to the Palestinians. 55% said they did not approve of Biden’s leadership in this war. Some deep objections and rejections come from Republicans, independents and people under the age of 45, while 40% of Americans approve of Biden’s handling of the situation. This included 60% of Democrats and 50% of white college graduates. 8 in 10 Americans said they fear this war will lead to an increase in hate crimes in the United States.
Reuters poll
Another opinion poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos showed that American popular support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza is eroding, as most Americans believe Israel should implement a ceasefire in this conflict.
About 32% of participants in this poll (which took place Monday and Tuesday) said, “The United States should support Israel.” That’s a drop from 41% who said the United States should support Israel in a Reuters/Ipsos poll last October.
The share of those who say, “The United States should be a neutral broker” rose to 39% in the new poll from 27% the previous month. Four percent of survey participants said the United States should support the Palestinians, and 15% said the United States should not get involved at all, both readings are similar to what happened a month ago.
One sign that could be worrying for Israel is that only 31% of survey participants said they support sending weapons to Israel, while 43% are against the idea. The others said they weren’t sure. Support for sending weapons to Israel was strongest among Republicans, while nearly half of Democrats opposed it.
By comparison, 41% of people who took the poll said they supported sending weapons to Ukraine in its nearly 21-month war against Russia’s invasion, compared to 32% who opposed it and the rest did not it was safe. As for Ukraine, support for sending weapons was strongest among Democrats.
Consequences and warnings
The results of these polls have clearly shown that a majority of Americans do not agree with the way the president handled that war, and also coincide with open letters sent by human rights organizations and United Nations agencies calling for to the Biden administration to call for a ceasefire, in addition to widespread objections within the US State Department, some intelligence agencies and the Pentagon are opposed to the Biden administration’s policies of supporting Israel. Demonstrations have broken out in several American cities to denounce American prejudice against Israel.
Analysts have highlighted a major divide in American society. Between a camp that strongly supports Israel and another that strongly supports the Palestinian side. FBI Director Christopher Wray has issued repeated warnings about high rates of violence among college students in both fields and growing fears of crimes falling under anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.