"We don’t put conditions on weapons that we're sending or that Israel is using."
The comments were made by White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, who previously told reporters to expect that Israel would continue to kill innocent civilians.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Tuesday that at least 10,328 Palestinians have been killed, including 4,237 children. Thousands more are missing and presumed to be under the rubble.
The Biden administration has cast doubt on the numbers coming from Gaza’s Health Ministry but is not denying civilians are being killed on a massive scale. Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder has also acknowledged that "thousands" of civilians have been killed.
Despite the grim death toll, the US still refuses to place any limits on Israel’s use of American weapons. When asked on Tuesday about the civilian casualties, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said, "We don’t put conditions on weapons that we’re sending or that Israel is using."
Here's the exchange from the DoD transcript below:
Q: And separately, yesterday, General Ryder acknowledged that thousands of civilians in Gaza have been killed from Israel's attacks, and at the same -- in the same briefing, also acknowledged that the U.S. is not putting any conditions on the weapons its sending. Is the Pentagon comfortable with the fact that the weapons it's sending could be used to kill civilians?
MS. SINGH: Well, we don't put conditions on weapons that we're -- that we're sending or that Israel is using, but I can tell you, in all of our -- both public and -- and private conversations, the Secretary and this administration has been very clear that humanitarian law, proportionality, always be taken into consideration when conducting any type of response within Gaza.
The administration is also refusing to disclose the types of weapons it’s sending to Israel. Kirby said in an October 23 press briefing that the US is shipping military equipment to Israel "on a near daily basis" but that the administration won’t detail what Israel’s receiving "for their own operational security purposes."
Tensions have also been growing in the State Department's press briefings over the soaring Gaza civilian death toll, as the below demonstrates:
The Grayzone's @MaxBlumenthal asked the State Dept why Tony Blinken and Joe Biden have accused nations of genocide which have killed far less than Israel has in Gaza in 1 month, and if the Biden admin has enabled Israel's killing spree with its use of the term "human shields" pic.twitter.com/3LUiNDv98a
— The Grayzone (@TheGrayzoneNews) November 7, 2023
While US weapons shipments to Israel are shrouded in secrecy, a report from The Intercept noted that the Pentagon has been releasing fact sheets detailing the weapons and numbers of rounds the US has been providing Ukraine.