'We Have Great News To Report Out Of Gaza': State Department Spokesperson Touts Aid Delivery

Forbes Breaking News

State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce was asked about the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's effort to distribute some aid in Gaza.

Transcript

00:00All right.

00:01On Gaza.

00:02Yes.

00:03What is the situation there, as you understand it, with the GHF and their first shipment or

00:11shipments?

00:12Yes.

00:13Well, last week we knew there were some numbers.

00:15We weren't able to give everybody some specific numbers, but I have some additional numbers

00:18for you as well.

00:20We have great news to report out of Gaza.

00:22I like being able to be asked about it, and we can talk about the numbers that are going

00:25in.

00:26The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, under the humanitarian principles of independence

00:31and impartiality, has commenced providing life-saving aid to the people of Gaza who desperately need

00:36it.

00:37Approximately 8,000 food boxes have been distributed so far.

00:42Each box feeds 5.5 people for three and a half days, totaling 462,000 meals.

00:51And so those are the kinds of numbers, I think, as we're looking at what's important in moving

00:55that kind of aid through the area.

00:56Right.

00:57But there was apparently some incident or incidents today involving potentially shots

01:03being – well, at least warning shots being fired and hundreds of –

01:07MS NAUERT.

01:08Well, yes.

01:09Hamas still has weapons.

01:10Hamas is in a situation here where all of this could have stopped, of course, if they had

01:14released the hostages and put down their weapons, but they refuse to do so.

01:18They've also rejected ceasefires.

01:20So that's – without confirming what might be gossip or single reports, the fact of the

01:27matter is Hamas has been opposed to this dynamic.

01:31They have attempted to stop the aid movement through Gaza to these distribution centers.

01:36They have failed, but they certainly tried.

01:39But the bottom line is – the real story here is that the aid is moving through.

01:44And in that kind of an environment, it's not surprising that there might be a few issues

01:48involved, but the good news is, is that those seeking to get aid to the people of Gaza, which

01:53is not Hamas, have succeeded.

01:55And last one, really briefly.

01:56MS NAUERT.

01:57Yes.

01:58I won't take up any more time.

01:59MS NAUERT.

02:00But my understanding is that the Administration is not particularly happy with the position

02:04that the UN and its agencies have taken with regard to these shipments.

02:10Is that correct?

02:11MS NAUERT.

02:12Well, it is – from the very beginning, we had – I had mentioned and we had heard

02:16about the resistance by certain NGOs and the UN.

02:24It is unfortunate, because the issue here is getting aid to Gazans.

02:28And then suddenly it moves into complaints about style or the nature of who's doing it

02:33or elements of administration.

02:39And being opposed to getting food and aid, as we've demonstrated here, is happening

02:43and will continue to happen, because someone might feel left out, is, I think, the height

02:49of hypocrisy.

02:50So the bottom line is, is that clearly people who care about the nature of solving this problem

02:56are taking action and moving it forward.

02:59And that's what counts.

03:00That's what matters.

03:01Yes.

03:02Andrea.

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