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 Hamas as a Humanitarian Organization - White House Press Briefing by Gordon Johndroe 1/2/09 — Friday, January 02, 2009 —  MR. JOHNDROE: Jeremy. Q A couple questions. One, is there any progress to report, incremental or otherwise, of reaching a cease-fire at this stage? MR. JOHNDROE: Well, we're not seeing Hamas stop its rocket attacks. And that's something that we're going to need to see them do. And I know that we've been engaged in a lot of diplomacy. I know that Foreign Minister Livni is traveling in Europe right now, and they've signaled that this is not an operation that they're going to stop right now because they have to protect their people. Israel has a right to defend itself from these rocket attacks. And so we'll see. We want a cease-fire as soon as possible, but we want one that is durable and lasting and won't be broken right away again by Hamas, one -- a cease-fire that Hamas respects. Q Secondly, has the U.S. fielded any requests from Israel for additional arms or munitions? MR. JOHNDROE: None that I'm aware of. Q Gordon, recently Foreign Minister Livni told the French Foreign Minister Kouchner that there is no humanitarian crisis. Is that a characterization that the administration agrees with? MR. JOHNDROE: Well, we want to make sure that there isn't a humanitarian crisis. Israel has allowed -- I think yesterday's count was 93; before that there were dozens of truckloads of humanitarian supplies that entered into Gaza. We want to make sure that flow continues. And we want to make sure that that, the food and medical supplies, reach the people of Gaza. The Israelis are reporting that Hamas hoards the humanitarian supplies and doesn't allow them to reach the people of Gaza, to create the idea of a humanitarian crisis. I can't speak to the exact situation on the ground. I can't speak to their allegation. I can't speak to Hamas's allegation that humanitarian supplies are not flowing in fast enough. We've seen humanitarian supplies flow into Gaza. We want to see them continue to flow into Gaza. Q But, Gordon, on that point, the official evidence coming from Gaza would indicate that there is already a crisis in terms of hospital treatment, doctors, civilian casualties. So how can you say there is not a humanitarian crisis? MR. JOHNDROE: No, I -- Gaza has been under the rule of Hamas now for 18 months or so. And Hamas has done nothing particularly good for its own people. That is why the United States has pledged nearly $200 million over the last year and a half for humanitarian assistance in to the people of the Palestinian Territories. The United States is the largest donor through the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, as well as the ICRC. We are very concerned about the people of Gaza. We are concerned about the humanitarian situation on the ground there now. I also know that Israel is permitting humanitarian shipments to go into Gaza. I also know that Israel alleges that Hamas is hoarding the humanitarian shipments, the food and medical supplies, to make the humanitarian situation worse and to blame the Israelis. I cannot speak to the specific facts on the ground. There is obviously a problem with the ability of the citizens of Gaza to be able to access everything as quickly and easily as they want, whether it's medical supplies or food. And we want to make sure that they do have access to it. Gaza | Gordon Johndroe | Hamas | Israel | Middle East | Press Briefing | White House Press Corps Labels: Gaza, Gordon Johndroe, Hamas, Israel, Middle East, Press Briefing, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 3:23:00 PM  HamasIranSyria Solutions - Western White House Press Briefing by Gordon Johndroe 12/31/08 — Wednesday, December 31, 2008 —  Q Have you seen any ramped up activities from Iran towards Israel? President Ahmadinejad today said the Arab world was not doing enough related to the Gaza strikes. MR. JOHNDROE: Have I seen any ramped up activity from Iran towards Israel. I've seen no change in their position in their desire to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, which they have stated a couple of times before. So I haven't seen anything new on that front. I think Hamas is pretty well-supplied by Iran, and to a certain extent, Syria. I mean, these two countries, Iran and Syria, supply Hamas and Hezbollah. I mean, they're basically their proxies in the region and in other parts of the world. And so I don't think Iran or Syria -- neither Iran nor Syria have been playing a helpful role, they are not playing a constructive role in this current crisis, which is pretty typical for their actions with regards to Hamas and Hezbollah. They continue to supply them. Q When you say "supply," what are you talking about -- supply them with what? MR. JOHNDROE: Weapons. Weapons. So we'd like to see -- there are some Arab states that are stepping forward and saying, we want peace in the Middle East. You have Egypt playing a positive role; Jordan; Saudi Arabia is very concerned. And then you have countries on the other end -- Iran and Syria -- who seem to want to continue to foment violence. And we'll see. Laurent. Q Have you seen supplies increasing to Hamas during the current crisis? MR. JOHNDROE: I'm not going to get into any specifics on supplies from Iran and Syria that we've seen over the last few days, but there is no doubt that Iran and Syria are the ones who have assisted Hamas with their weapons acquisition, and that's a problem. Q Hamas today said that they were prepared to study proposals for a cease-fire. Basically, the United States and Israel are not taking that seriously or -- MR. JOHNDROE: I don't know what Hamas needs to study. I mean, I'm not sure -- I don't get what Hamas needs to study. Hamas needs to stop firing rockets into Israel. It's very clear. Ahmadinejad | Gaza | Gordon Johndroe | Hamas | Iran | Israel | Middle East | Press Briefing | Syria | White House Press Corps Labels: Ahmadinejad, Gaza, Gordon Johndroe, Hamas, Iran, Israel, Middle East, Press Briefing, Syria, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 10:31:00 PM Hamas Leadership by Rockets - Western White House Press Briefing by Gordon Johndroe 12/30/08 — Tuesday, December 30, 2008 —  MR. JOHNDROE: Patty. Q There are reports out today that the Israeli cabinet is considering a 48-hour ceasefire truce to allow humanitarian aid in. Has the Bush administration been told that they are considering that, and what would be the U.S. position on that? Would you urge Israel to allow the humanitarian aid in? MR. JOHNDROE: I would say that both Secretary Rice and National Security Advisor Steve Hadley have been in touch with Prime Minister Olmert and his staff. But beyond that, I'm not going to get into those discussions. As you said, the Israeli cabinet is supposed to meet tomorrow. Let's let the cabinet meet, and then go from there. Q Would you be in favor, though, of a truce to allow -- what is the humanitarian situation? What is the U.S. intelligence on the humanitarian situation? We've all seen the pictures. Would you be in favor of that? MR. JOHNDROE: Well, as I've said, as President Bush told Prime Minister Fayyad and President Abbas, the United States is concerned about the humanitarian situation. That's why we released $85 million today, although this money has been in the pipeline as part of our 2009 commitment -- but just a reminder of the U.S. commitment to helping the people of Gaza. The President is concerned about the citizens of Gaza, but not the Hamas terrorist leaders who are doing this to the people of Gaza. It's my understanding that dozens of truckloads have come in into Gaza in the last 24 hours to 48 hours to bring relief supplies, medical supplies and food. But we remain concerned about it. And we're going to keep on working with the U.N. agency and the ICRC to make sure that the innocent people of Gaza are able to get food and medical supplies. Q But will that concern translate into you pushing Israel toward the 48-hour ceasefire? MR. JOHNDROE: I'm not going to get into any private discussions, but our message to Israel has been the same that I've said here, our message to everyone, and that is that the only way this is going to stop is if Hamas stops firing rockets and everyone agrees to a sustainable ceasefire. Nelson. Q Given that Israel yesterday declared all out war on Hamas, would the administration object to the crippling of that organization? MR. JOHNDROE: I think that a Hamas that is unable to rain terror down on the people of Israel is probably a Hamas that is better, even for the people of Gaza. If Hamas is not able to carry out terrorist activities, hopefully they would see the light and start to serve the people of Gaza better. Instead, they have -- they bring them nothing but continued poverty. Gaza | Gordon Johndroe | Hamas | Israel | President Bush | Press Briefing | War on Terror | White House Press Corps Labels: Gaza, Gordon Johndroe, Hamas, Israel, President Bush, Press Briefing, War on Terror, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 3:23:00 PM Israeli Response to Hamas Rockets - Western White House Press Briefing by Gordon Johndroe 12/29/08 — Monday, December 29, 2008 —  MR. JOHNDROE: Deb. Q What does Israel hope to achieve by this? I mean, what's the end game? MR. JOHNDROE: Israel is responding to a barrage of rocket and mortar attacks that increased substantially last week, following Hamas's refusal to renew the ceasefire. Israel has made clear that they do not want to retake Gaza, that they simply want the people of southern Israel to be able to live in peace, free from this barrage of rocket attacks. And that's what we expect. We also want to see, as I've said, the ceasefire restored in a sustainable and durable fashion, so that we can get back on the road map, work towards the goals of the Annapolis process, which, again, is two states living side by side in peace. Q -- I mean, is just going to rekindle radicalism, isn't it? MR. JOHNDROE: You know, it's hard for me to speak to specific casualty numbers. We have urged the Israelis to avoid civilian casualties. But they are working on decreasing the number of Israeli citizens that are vulnerable. And we know -- I believe someone died this morning, a couple of people a couple of days ago. The Israelis are working to reduce the threat against their own people. So they're going to continue, it appears at this time, to deal with this Hamas terrorist threat. But ultimately, we want a sustainable and durable ceasefire. [...] MR. JOHNDROE: John. Q Israel is amassing tanks and troops along that border. Is the President urging them not to launch a ground invasion? Is he urging restraint already now, in his diplomatic efforts? MR. JOHNDROE: The discussions that we've had with the Israelis are ones that everyone needs to recognize that the ultimate goal here is to get to a ceasefire. I can't speak to any potential ground operation. I think that any ground operation, according to the Israelis, would be part and parcel of the overall operation, given their statements saying that they don't want to retake Gaza, that they simply want to protect their people. So we'll just have to see how this unfolds. Obviously, as I've said, we don't want them -- we want civilian casualties to be avoided. But it's is unfortunate as Hamas, as we've seen in the past, tends to base its people and some of its rockets in civilian areas. So we'll see. Go ahead. Q Is it fair to say that the U.S. would prefer not to see a ground operation, but defends Israel's right to do that? What exactly is the U.S. position? MR. JOHNDROE: I'm not going to speculate on a ground operation. Let's just take this one day at a time, all right. Gaza | Gordon Johndroe | Hamas | Israel | Middle East | Press Briefing | White House Press Corps Labels: Gaza, Gordon Johndroe, Hamas, Israel, Middle East, Press Briefing, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 9:17:00 PM
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