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Department Press Briefing- June 20, 2024 [ https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-june-20-2024/ ] 06/20/2024 08:28 PM EDT
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Department Press Briefing- June 20, 2024
June 20, 2024
2:09 p.m. EDT
*MR MILLER:* Good afternoon.
*QUESTION:* Good afternoon.
*MR MILLER:* At the risk of disappointing everyone, I don’t have any opening comments. So Matt is first.
*QUESTION:* Why – disappointing us, really?
*MR MILLER:* That was a bit facetious on my part perhaps.
*QUESTION:* Okay. All right. So let’s just start in the Middle East. One, can you tell us what you’re expecting out of this meeting from Dermer and the Secretary?
*MR MILLER:* Yeah. So later this afternoon the Secretary will meet with Ron Dermer, Minister for Strategic Affairs for the Government of Israel and Tzachi Hanegbi, the National Security Advisor. He will discuss our ongoing work to try to reach a ceasefire that will secure the release of all hostages, would surge humanitarian assistance. They will discuss the situation in the north of Lebanon – or, I’m sorry – in the north of Israel along the border with Lebanon. They will discuss our ongoing work, even absent trying to secure a ceasefire to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza, and work that needs to be done to accelerate and prove that process, among, of course, a host of other issues that we discuss every time we meet with people from the Government of Israel.
*QUESTION:* Okay. Well, when it relates to the quote, unquote, north of Lebanon —
*MR MILLER:* Israel. I believe I corrected it.
*QUESTION:* Well, I know. The north of Israel, yes. But you want to talk about the north of —
*MR MILLER:* South of Lebanon.
*QUESTION:* We can talk about the north of Lebanon if you want.
*MR MILLER:* Sure. (Laughter.)
*QUESTION:* But let’s talk about —
*MR MILLER:* You can probably tell me your trips to it. I’m sure you’ve been. (Laughter.)
*QUESTION:* Let’s talk about the north of Israel on the Lebanese border. What is the situation there, as you understand it? Is there some kind of – is there some kind of operation that’s going to be mounted any time soon? And if there is, what do you think of it?
*MR MILLER:* So we have made quite clear that we do not want to see escalation of this conflict. Hizballah has increased the number of cross-border attacks over the past few weeks. You’ve seen dramatic attacks targeting civilian communities.
Matt, I hate to interrupt. There’s a big cockroach on the wall over your head there. So maybe need a – we’ll defer that to – (laughter) – it’s not – no insecticide or roach-icide in the briefing, Matt.
*QUESTION:* Well, I’ll go get it as soon as you finish.
*MR MILLER:* Yeah. I’m sorry to be distracted, but that’s a rather large one. (Laughter.)
*QUESTION:* Do we – do I have to get rid of it now?
*MR MILLER:* No, no.
*QUESTION:* All right.
*MR MILLER:* Let me go ahead and finish. We’ve seen a number – a dramatic increase in attacks across the border. I shouldn’t have said anything because now the room’s going to have a hard time focusing on what – on the very important messages I have to deliver here. Back to where we were.
*QUESTION:* I’m worried. Is it still alive?
*MR MILLER:* Back to where we were. We’ve been extremely concerned about the situation in the north of Israel. As I said, we don’t want to see the conflict escalate. We have seen a dramatic increase in strikes by Hizballah across the border targeting Israeli villages, civilian infrastructure. And so we have been pursuing a diplomatic resolution to try to make clear that there should be no further escalation, and that’s what we’ll continue to pursue.
*QUESTION:* Well, yeah. But I mean, have you told them, the Israelis or the Lebanese, that the – that – have you – well, have you told them anything?
*MR MILLER:* So we’ve had intensive conversations with both governments about this. In our conversations with the Government of Israel, which I’ll speak to – and I’m sure the Secretary will go over with the two representatives from the government who are here today – we have made clear that our preference is to see a diplomatic resolution. And they have said to us that they want to see a diplomatic resolution to this conflict, and that’s what we’re going to continue to try to pursue.
*QUESTION:* Have the Israelis told you that they’re about to launch some kind of a strike and —
*MR MILLER:* They have not.
(The cockroach was taken care of.) (Applause.)
*MR MILLER:* Solves that problem. (Laughter.)
*QUESTION:* Right. I mean, is that the —
*MR MILLER:* I’m not going to engage in any metaphors related here, which I think –(laughter) – I think where you’re going to —
*QUESTION:* No. Well, I mean, I – so have you told the Israelis that you’re going to – that you will support them or help them if they decide to go in?
*MR MILLER:* We have made clear that we want to see a diplomatic resolution. I think I’ll leave –
*QUESTION:* Well, that’s not what I’m asking.
*MR MILLER:* I think I will leave it at that.
*QUESTION:* All right. Thanks.
*QUESTION:* Matt.
*MR MILLER:* Yeah, Michel.
*QUESTION:* After Mr. Hochstein’s visit to Israel and Lebanon, is it fair to say that the diplomatic solution has failed?
*MR MILLER:* No, I don’t think so. I think we continue to pursue very active diplomacy to try to keep this conflict from escalating. You’ve heard me say this before, and I’ll say it again because it remains the case. The best way to unlock the possibility of a resolution along the Israel-Lebanese border would be achieving a ceasefire in Gaza.
And we continue to actively pursue a ceasefire in Gaza, primarily for – to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza and to secure the return of hostages. But a very important side effect, we assess, would be making it much easier to achieve a ceasefire and diplomatic resolution along the Israel-Lebanon border. That said, we’re not waiting for a ceasefire in Gaza. We’re continuing to pursue diplomacy because it’s important to do. But, again, it’s very difficult to reach such a resolution while the conflict in Gaza continues at the pace it is today.
*QUESTION:* And do you have any comments on Hizballah secretary general’s speech yesterday and his threat to Cyprus? And did the Secretary discuss this topic with Cyprus foreign minister in their call yesterday?
*MR MILLER:* So the meeting that he had with the Government of Cyprus was actually two days ago. So it was before the speech that – the Hizballah speech that you referred to. So no, they obviously didn’t discuss because it hadn’t happened yet. But obviously those comments are extremely unproductive, and Hizballah should cease making threats against anyone, and our preference would be for Hizballah to pursue a diplomatic resolution. I think that’s the most productive. And certainly making threats at other countries that aren’t involved in this conflict at all are not a productive step for them to be taking.
*QUESTION:* Thank you.
*MR MILLER:* Yeah. Go ahead.
*QUESTION: *Just on – keep on the Lebanon border issue. Is it fair to say that this has now become, like, a greater focus of your diplomacy, like in the meetings this afternoon, than the situation in Gaza? This seems to have really heightened in terms of the rhetoric coming from both sides. Do you see this as a sort of – the priority is now avoiding a broader conflict in the north?
*MR MILLER: *No, they continue to be equally important priorities, and they have been from the beginning. We have been incredibly focused on the situation in Gaza since right after October 7th. But if you go back and look at what the Secretary said in his first visit to the region and what we said in really every trip, keeping the conflict from escalating has been one of our overriding strategic goals. And there have been times when it looked like there was more of a chance of the conflict escalating than others. Obviously, we had the time when there was direct fire against the state of Israel from inside Iran. We’ve seen the pace of attacks across the Lebanese border kind of rise and fall over time, but that overriding strategic objective has been there from the beginning for us. We continue to focus on both.
This is not what you were saying, but I would just say that I wouldn’t – the number of questions we get about any one topic is not always indicative of the actual work that’s going on inside the government. We continue to work to pursue a ceasefire. There are conversations going on between our government and the Government of Israel – the governments of Israel, Egypt, and Qatar about how best to achieve that ceasefire in a way that protects Israel’s security interests, gets the hostages home, alleviates the suffering of the Palestinian people. But no, I wouldn’t rank them in any kind of order.
*QUESTION: *And also on the relationship with the Israeli Government, there’s been this fallout from the video that Prime Minister Netanyahu made talking about what Secretary Blinken said to him in their meeting. There’s obviously – the administration has spoken about this and said some parts of it are not true. I just wanted to get your response, because there’s the latest comment from the prime minister; he’s saying he’s willing to absorb personal attacks – he calls them “personal attacks” apparently in a reference to the way that the administration has responded to this video – in order to get the weapons that Israel needs for its survival. So how do you respond to this kind of – there seems to be a continuing discord between the way you’re talking about this, and specifically on the issue of whether you’re providing Israel with everything it needs?
*MR MILLER: *So I’m not exactly sure what the prime minister is talking about or what he was trying to accomplish. All I can tell you is what the Secretary told the prime minister directly in his meeting in Israel last week, which is that our commitment to Israel’s security is sacrosanct. We have proved that not just with words, but with deeds, and I don’t think it’s productive to engage in an intense public back and forth about this. So we will just let our actions continue to speak for themselves as they have since October 7th.
*QUESTION: *Israel?
*MR MILLER: *Yeah.
*QUESTION: *Staying on Lebanon. You and other U.S. officials have made clear that you don’t want a second front to open, but how likely at this stage do you believe that a new confrontation between Hizballah in Lebanon and Israel is?
*MR MILLER: *I’m not going to give you any kind of assessment of likelihood. I will say it is an intense concern of ours. It has been for some time. As I said, there are times where we have been more concerned about it. It has never gone away as a concern, but whenever you see an increase in strikes across the border, that magnifies our concern at any given moment. So of course, we have intense concerns about it right now, which is why we are pursuing diplomacy to try to achieve a resolution.
*QUESTION: *A U.S. official told us today that Israel hasn’t come close to achieving their stated objective of destroying Hamas in Gaza. Its defense minister made similar comments publicly. Does the U.S. believe that Israel is militarily capable of succeeding militarily against Hizballah, with or without American support?
*MR MILLER: *Against Hizballah? I just don’t want to offer any kind of assessment about a conflict that we hope never happens in the first place.
*QUESTION: *Well, you may be more persuasive if you point out that it’s not one that Israel can win.
*MR MILLER: *We will have – we have conversations about that sort of thing behind closed doors, but I don’t think it’s helpful for me to offer that kind of assessment publicly.
*QUESTION: *Okay. And then just – just because so much of this has also been predicated or has been accompanied by the U.S. diplomatic push to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, where do those talks stand? Have mediators engaged – re-engaged with Hamas to get a read on what the bridgeable gaps are at this stage?
*MR MILLER: *We are engaging in conversations, as I said a moment ago, with the governments of Egypt, Israel, and Qatar about how to move forward, responding to the proposal that Hamas made last week, to try to come to a resolution that is consistent with what the United Nations Security Council endorsed and what countries across the world have signed up to. But I don’t think at this point it’s helpful for me to talk about those conversations in detail.
*QUESTION: *Just to – there’s been no re-engagement with Hamas, either their political representatives or their military wing?
*MR MILLER: *I don’t want to get into that publicly right now.
*QUESTION: *All right, one more on Ukraine and then I’ll —
*MR MILLER: *Okay. We’ll come back.
*QUESTION: *While we’re on Hizballah, can I just ask if you can kind of give us an up-to-date assessment as to where the U.S. – how the U.S. is viewing Iran’s backing of Hizballah at this moment in time? Has it increased? Is it the same steady state that it’s been? Just where that stands.
*MR MILLER: *So I can’t give you a minute-to-minute assessment, but Iran has been one of the primary backers of Hizballah going back years, as they are a primary backer of Hamas going back years, and other terrorist organizations in the region, and that has in no way changed.
*QUESTION: *Okay. And so there’s no further support that they’re providing to them?
*MR MILLER: *They are providing ongoing support to them at all times. And what I mean is I can’t give you a daily kind of run-by-run of what they’re doing, but they have been one of Hizballah’s chief backers going back years and that hasn’t changed; it’s been consistent. It’s one of the reasons we’ve been so concerned about Iran’s destabilizing activities.
*QUESTION:* And then just – just one question on the Secretary previewed last week that the department was going to be rolling out plans for – day-after plans in Gaza. I just wonder if you can give us an update as to where those efforts stand, how many plans you guys are going to roll out, if a few weeks is still kind of the time frame that we’re dealing with here.
*MR MILLER:* I think I’m going to have to give you the “stay tuned” answer on this one. There are conversations we are engaging with our partners in the region about. We do look forward to moving those conversations forward and, as the Secretary said, having something to say, but I’m not ready to preview it today.
*QUESTION:* Okay.
*QUESTION:* Can I follow up?
*MR MILLER:* Yeah, Said, go – sorry, you’ll be next.
*QUESTION:* Thank you. Just to where you were responding to Olivia I guess on the path forward, I mean, a lot of – according to Politico, U.S. officials see no path forward to resolving the Gaza war anytime soon or coming up with a ceasefire that can endure. So I just want – perhaps if you elaborate on this.
*MR MILLER:* So —
*QUESTION:* Where are we – where are we with the talks?
*MR MILLER:* So first of all, I have no idea who those U.S. officials are. As I’ve said on previous occasions, you have thousands of people who serve in the government and have U.S. – who are U.S. officials, and they have a wide diversity of opinions. They’re not all – the opinions that you see quoted from U.S. officials are not universally shared. I think everyone understands that.
I will say that we very much see a path forward to a ceasefire. There was a way to get a ceasefire last week – in fact, even before last week – if Hamas had agreed to the proposal that Israel had put forward and that had been endorsed, as I said, by the United Nations Security Council and countries around the world. And had Hamas accepted that proposal, we would have a ceasefire today and the suffering of the people inside Gaza could have been dramatically alleviated and we would have seen a massive surge in humanitarian assistance. So it remains incredibly unfortunate that they didn’t accept that proposal, but we think they ought to accept that – they ought to agree to a ceasefire. We are engaged in conversations with the mediators about how to get to a ceasefire that protects Israel’s security interests, that alleviates the suffering of the Palestinian people. We very much do think it’s possible to achieve one, but as you heard the Secretary say, just because it’s possible doesn’t mean that we will get there. But we’re going to keep trying.
*QUESTION:* Well, since you mentioned the humanitarian aid, I mean, today marks the 43rd day of the closure of the Rafah crossing and Karem Abu Salem and so on. There is virtually no aid, and the pier is not functioning, obviously. The situation is very dire. Why can’t – why can’t the U.S. put forth an idea or a way to increase under the current circumstances before you even get the ceasefire, because the situation is very bad? I mean, people – literally children are starving —
*MR MILLER:* We are absolutely —
*QUESTION:* — to death.
*MR MILLER:* We are – sorry to interrupt you. We are absolutely putting forward ways to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza. And it was because of U.S. advocacy that we saw Israel institute these humanitarian pauses that they announced on Sunday or Monday. We continue to engage with our partners on the ground about how to increase the number of trucks that go in, but more importantly right now, because there are a number of trucks that have made it to Kerem Shalom that are sitting in Kerem Shalom unable to then distribute the aid that they’re holding inside Gaza, we’re working for ways to resolve the security and logistical challenges that made it difficult to distribute aid inside Gaza. We continue to be incredibly focused on that as well —
*QUESTION:* Do you —
*MR MILLER:* And I should say as well as reaching an agreement between Israel and Egypt about how to safely reopen the Rafah border crossing.
*QUESTION:* Although Israel has destroyed it completely. They’re saying that it is now rendered completely inoperable. But let me ask you about the – what Navi Pillay, the chairperson of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, announced yesterday that Israel did indeed commit war crimes. Do you have any comment? Have you seen the report and do you have any comment on that?
*MR MILLER:* We did see the report. We saw that Israel said it is reviewing the report. I can just give you what our assessment has been. You saw us put out a report last month where we said it is reasonable to assess that there have been violations of international humanitarian law, and we’re continuing to look at specific incidents to draw final determinations.
*QUESTION:* Thank you.
*MR MILLER:* Yeah, go ahead.
*QUESTION:* On Iran – pardon me – there’s reporting that Iran’s undergoing a major extension at the Fordow facility that would triple production of enriched uranium there. I wanted to get your comment on that and the separate reporting that the Iranians could now be using computer modeling that could be used in their development of nuclear weapons.
*MR MILLER:* So with respect to the first question, Iran continues to expand its nuclear program in ways that have no credible peaceful purpose. We remain deeply concerned with Iran’s nuclear activities and will continue to vigilantly monitor them. As we said in a joint statement we put out with the G7 on Friday, Iran must cooperate with the IAEA without further delay. As it relates to this report on commuter modeling – computer modeling, I’ve seen the article; I’m not going to comment, obviously, on intelligence matters. As you have heard us say before, we do not see indications that Iran is currently undertaking the key activities that we would – that would be necessary to produce a testable nuclear device, but of course this is something we continue to monitor very closely.
*QUESTION:* Follow-up? Iran?
*MR MILLER:* Yeah. Oh, Guita, go ahead. Yes. Yeah, stick with Iran.
*QUESTION:* Thank you.
*QUESTION:* (Off-mike.)
*QUESTION:* Earlier when you were talking about Hizballah, its activities, you referenced Iran, its support for Hizballah, terrorism. Canada just designated the IRGC as a terrorist group. I was wondering if you have any comment?
*MR MILLER:* So we welcome the decision by Canada to designate the IRGC as a terrorist group. It’s something the United States has done. The IRGC’s terrorism and lethal plotting threatens the entire world, and we stand ready to provide support as countries – other countries consider designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization.
*QUESTION:* How can you support other countries in doing this?
*MR MILLER:* Well, we can provide information to them about activities that they have undertaken, something we often do in sharing intelligence information and other information with our allies and partners about activities that we have seen any supporters of terrorists – terrorism take around the world.
*QUESTION:* Thank you.
*MR MILLER:* Yeah, Tom.
*QUESTION:* Just to come back to the Netanyahu video, I mean, the White House has said today that what the Israeli prime minister said was, quote, “incorrect.” So I’m just trying to – there were a few things he said, but I’m trying to understand which part was incorrect.
*MR MILLER:* So I think the part that is incorrect is that there are bottlenecks that need to be overcome. So obviously, there is one shipment of high-payload munitions that we have put under review and that remains under review. That’s not a bottleneck; that’s a policy review. Other shipments of weapons have been moving regularly to Israel, because we are committed to Israel’s long-term defense, and that includes things that have nothing to do with the war in Gaza but are capabilities related to Israel’s long-term security, defending itself against, for example, the threat from Iran.
*QUESTION:* He also said that the Secretary told him that the administration was working day and night to overcome the bottlenecks. Is that incorrect?
*MR MILLER:* So I’m not going to get into a word-for-word parsing of what the prime minister said, because as I said a moment ago, I don’t think it’s really productive to have this kind of conversation in public. But there are – but there are no bottlenecks. And the Secretary made clear in the – in his conversation that we are continuing to flow security assistance – other than the one that is publicly known, that we have made clear to them and we’ve said publicly are under review—other things continue to flow. So there are – there just are no bottlenecks.
*QUESTION:* So he didn’t – he didn’t say that the administration was working to overcome that particular block of the 2000-pound bombs?
*MR MILLER:* No.
*QUESTION:* He didn’t say that?
*MR MILLER:* No.
*QUESTION:* Okay. And —
*QUESTION:* Can I just follow up on that, Tom?
*QUESTION:* Yeah, sure.
*QUESTION:* On that (inaudible). You say the – it’s not for public exchanges, back and forth and all this. But I mean, the White House this morning went quite strongly against Netanyahu’s comments. And so is the State Department not at the same line as the White House?
*MR MILLER:* No, I – I made clear that we didn’t think – I didn’t think the comments – I didn’t know what the prime minister was talking about or what he was trying to accomplish. And I’m happy to make the record clear, as I think the White House was doing, but none of us think it’s productive to have a extended public debate about – that’s not – there’s no daylight between me in the White House. I think they would agree with that. But of course, when it comes to defending our record, we’re going to defend our record.
*QUESTION:* Well, why don’t you tell them that?
*QUESTION:* I mean, it seems to have a little bit of a different take than the White House on this.
*MR MILLER:* I – not at all. Not at all.
*QUESTION:* Why don’t you tell them that?
*MR MILLER:* No – no —
*QUESTION:* No?
*MR MILLER:* The White House? We have the exact same —
*QUESTION:* No, not the White House – the Israelis.
*MR MILLER:* I think I just did.
*QUESTION:* Did you? Did you?
*MR MILLER:* I think I just did.
*QUESTION:* All right. Okay.
*QUESTION:* Yeah, I mean, but – I mean, you’re saying it’s not productive to have a back and forth, but you are having a back and forth with them right now. So —
*QUESTION:* Exactly.
*QUESTION:* — what purpose do you think that serves? Because in the end —
*MR MILLER:* I don’t – so I don’t think it serves any purpose. That – no, that is my overall point.
*QUESTION:* In the end, you could sort of not engage with this, and yet you’re still signing the checks, right. So —
*MR MILLER:* Hold on. No – I don’t think it serves any purpose, but if someone – if someone comes out and says something about the actions by the United States Government that we – that are not accurate, we’re going to correct the record. I don’t think it’s necessarily —
*QUESTION:* But you’re —
*MR MILLER:* I don’t think it’s necessarily productive to have this exchange in public, especially about things that we don’t understand and can’t comprehend because they don’t reflect reality, but we will defend our record a hundred percent.
*QUESTION:* So you’re saying it’s not productive to have the exchange in public, but you will still have the exchange in public?
*MR MILLER:* I’m saying we’ll defend our record when we have to, yeah.
*QUESTION:* Sorry – sorry, but you have daily contacts with the Israelis. So what are you saying to them? Netanyahu, the prime minister, is lying or not saying correct things or —
*MR MILLER:* As I just said, we don’t understand what he was talking about when it comes to talking about bottlenecks because we’ve continued to provide, absent – outside of this one shipment that is under review, we continue to provide them the equipment they need to defend themselves.
*QUESTION:* And his staff hasn’t explained to you what he was talking about, since you’re in daily contact with them?
*MR MILLER:* So we have very direct exchanges with them. They can be quite candid at time, and I think I’ll leave it at that.
Alex, go ahead.
*QUESTION:* Thank you, Matt. I want to shift to Ukraine, but before that, anything you can tell us about another arrested U.S.-Russian citizen, Ksenia Karelina, who is facing trial in Yekaterinburg. Basically Russia is trying to jail another American citizen for experiencing her First Amendment rights in the U.S.