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U.S.: Israel Can Eliminate the Threat Hamas Poses to the Israeli People
(White House) U.S. National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said Wednesday: "The United States remains focused on working with a range of partners to help Israel defend itself, to surge humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza, and, of course, to defend our national security interests in the region. That most certainly includes protecting the free flow of international commerce in the Red Sea. To accomplish these goals, we have established and will continue to maintain a significant force presence in the Middle East." Regarding the killing of the Hamas leader in Beirut, "Al-Arouri was a noted designated global terrorist. And if he is, in fact, dead, nobody should be shedding a tear over his loss." "We believe that it is absolutely an attainable goal for the Israeli military forces to degrade and defeat Hamas' abilities to conduct attacks inside Israel. It can be done militarily. Are you going to eliminate the ideology? No. And are you likely going to erase the group from existence? Probably not. But can you eliminate the threat that Hamas poses to the Israeli people? Absolutely." "We showed that with respect to ISIS and al-Qaeda; it can be done. ISIS and al-Qaeda still exist, but they are nowhere near the kind of threats that they once posed. So, it can be done militarily." Regarding South Africa accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice, "We find this submission meritless, counterproductive, and completely without any basis in fact whatsoever."