White House spokesperson did not claim 'zero' civilian deaths in Gaza | Fact check

Andre Byik, USA TODAY
·3 min read
11
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby

The claim: A White House spokesperson said there have been no civilian deaths in Gaza

A Jan. 28 Facebook video (direct link, archive link) shows National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby speaking at the White House about the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

The video's caption quotes him as saying, "The case brought by South Africa against Israel is meaningless because there is no intentional genocide, the true number of civilian deaths in Gaza is ZERO!"

"Unbelievable," is written under the purported quote.

Spanish-language versions of the claim and a similar post on X, formerly Twitter, were shared widely.

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Our rating: False

The post misquotes Kirby and misrepresents his remarks. Kirby did not say there had been no civilian deaths, he said the "right number" of such deaths is zero.

Post misconstrues US official's comments on Israel-Hamas war

The Facebook post shows Kirby answering questions from the White House press corps on Jan. 26, the same day the International Court of Justice in The Hague ordered Israel to implement measures aimed at preventing death and destruction in the Gaza Strip. The order from the U.N.'s top court was an early decision in a case filed by South Africa that accuses Israel of committing and inciting genocide following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. The court has not yet determined whether Israel is committing genocide.

While the post presents a video clip that accurately shows part of Kirby's remarks during the press briefing, it includes a caption that misquotes the official and misrepresents his remarks. Kirby did not call South Africa's case before the U.N. court "meaningless," and he did not say no civilians have died in the conflict.

Fact check: False claim UN court found Israel violated genocide convention

Instead, Kirby said the U.S. disagrees with South Africa's genocide claim and has not seen any indication that Israel's goal is to exterminate the Palestinian people, according to a transcript and video of the press briefing provided by the White House.

"I want to be very clear – and I know I’ve said this a million times, and you’re all probably sick of me following up on this – but that doesn’t mean that we excuse any single innocent life lost," Kirby said. "The right number of civilian casualties is zero. But there’s no indication that we’ve seen that validates a claim of genocidal intent or action by the Israeli Defense Forces."

The number of Palestinians killed in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas has surpassed 25,000, The Associated Press reported on Jan. 21. The article said Israel's military claims it has killed about 9,000 militants and blames a high civilian death toll on Hamas positioning its fighters in densely populated areas.

The Facebook user who shared the video did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Post misquotes US official on Gaza Strip death toll | Fact check