US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides said Washington completely supports Israel’s fight against “bad guys” in the Gaza Strip, days after Israel launched an unprovoked war against Palestinian groups in the besieged region.
Speaking to Israel’s Channel 13 for an interview on Wednesday, Nides said the US government is “aware of the situation going on in Gaza” and believes the latest Israeli operations there last week were part of “an important mission.”
“These are bad guys,” the envoy continued, referring to Palestinian armed groups, adding that.
“We support Israel’s right to defend itself, its right to basically take the actions it needs to keep this place safe, so we’re fully supportive of Israel’s actions.”
The Israel army launched several days of strikes on Gaza starting last Friday, largely claiming to target fighters with the Islamic Jihad movement. According to Palestinian health ministry estimates, 48 Palestinians were killed in the operations, including 16 children.
Though a shaky ceasefire deal was brokered on Sunday with the help of Egyptian mediators and appears to be holding in Gaza, Israeli troops killed the commander and two fighters with Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the city of Nablus.
In subsequent clashes, two unarmed Palestinian teens were killed by the Israeli army.
Ambassador Nides went on to say that the White House was not informed of Israel’s operations in Gaza ahead of time but added “I don’t think we were surprised.”
“I don’t think we were told in advance, but I think we were aware as the actions were taking place,” he said, reiterating: “We were pretty clear that we support the state of Israel’s security.”
Briefly addressing negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, Nides echoed the White House’s increasingly impatient tone toward the Islamic Republic, maintaining that “Every option is on the table” to contain the alleged Iranian threat.
Though Tehran has long insisted it has no intention of developing an atomic bomb, the US envoy said “We’re not going to allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” echoing previous remarks by US President Joe Biden.
(RT, PC, SOCIAL)
