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Department Press Briefing – March 5, 2024 [ https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-march-5-2024/ ] 03/05/2024 04:51 PM EST
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Department Press Briefing – March 5, 2024
March 5, 2024
1:12 p.m. EST
*MR MILLER:* Good afternoon. Let me start with a readout of the Secretary’s meeting earlier today with Israeli War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz. The Secretary and Minister Gantz discussed the ongoing conflict in Gaza, and the Secretary reiterated that the United States continues to support Israel’s right to ensure that the terrorist attacks of October 7th can never be repeated. The Secretary also emphasized the need for Israel to act urgently to enable the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Gaza and to improve the distribution of that aid inside Gaza.
As you heard the Secretary say this morning before his meeting with Prime Minister Al Thani of Qatar, the current situation is unacceptable and unsustainable. And while the United States is doing everything it can to increase deliveries into Gaza, Israel must take additional steps as well.
Secretary Blinken and Minister Gantz also discussed efforts to reach an agreement for a six-week ceasefire that would secure the release of all hostages and help alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people. As the Secretary said earlier today, we have an opportunity to achieve an immediate ceasefire, and it is on Hamas to make the decisions about whether it is willing to agree to one. The talks to secure a temporary ceasefire and achieve the release of all hostages are ongoing, and we will continue to push to reach an agreement.
And then I wanted to say a few words about Under Secretary Toria Nuland who the Secretary announced earlier today will be stepping down from her position in the coming weeks. As the Secretary said in his statement, Toria has an unmatched capacity to wield the full toolkit of American diplomacy to advance our interests and values. She’s had almost every job in this department. I shouldn’t say almost every job – but most jobs in this department, including this very job here. And I will say just speaking personally, I first got to know Toria during – at the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. And the thing that struck me about her from day one was her clarity purpose and clarity of voice, which I know all of you probably remember well from her – or at least Matt remembers well from her time at this podium.
*QUESTION:* (Off-mike.)
*MR MILLER:* So I know I speak for everyone in the department in saying we will miss her greatly, but we congratulate her on an extraordinary career.
With that, Matt.
*QUESTION:* Okay. Well, maybe you could get her down here to give us a farewell.
*MR MILLER:* One last briefing for old times’ sake?
*QUESTION:* Yes. Exactly.
*MR MILLER:* I’m sure she would love to argue with you for —
*QUESTION:* Yeah, I’m —
*MR MILLER:* — an extended —
*QUESTION:* Probably not, but still it would be interesting to hear her thoughts on leaving. Anyways, on the meetings this morning with both the Qataris and Benny Gantz, when you say that you continue to support Israel’s right to ensure that the events of October 7th can never happen again – when you say that, do – does that mean that you agree with the Israeli idea that Hamas has to be completely eliminated, eradicated, killed?
*MR MILLER:* So we support Israel in defeating Hamas. And to unpack that a little bit – I’ve said a little bit about this from the podium before – there are military objectives that Israel is trying to accomplish when it comes to defeating Hamas, and it supports – we support those military objectives. But then we’re also going to have to defeat the ideology behind Hamas and that is not something that can be accomplished on the battlefield. It’s something that we have learned in the United States in our long history with counterterrorism, that you cannot defeat an idea on the battlefield. You can defeat a terrorist group on the battlefield, but ultimately you have to beat that idea with a better idea. So we support their campaign to defeat Hamas, but we also support a broader political resolution that will address the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people.
*QUESTION:* Well, do you think at the moment that the Israeli strategy is actually helping to defeat the ideology or is it not?
*MR MILLER:* I think we are in the middle of a military campaign, and it’s not the right time to offer assessments about the broader struggle. But we do – we have spoken out many times to say that Israel has to be careful that, in achieving a tactical victory, it doesn’t endure a strategic defeat. And it remains our advice to them not to do that.
*QUESTION:* Okay. And then in – just in terms of the negotiations that are going on – and I don’t know if Minister Gantz is completely up-to-date on the latest of it, but presumably Sheikh Mohammed is since his country is brokering them. What sense did you get other than the ball is in Hamas’s court? Are there – are the differences that still exist surmountable or are they impossible?
*MR MILLER:* So the Secretary did discuss those ongoing negotiations both with Prime Minister Al Thani and with Minister Gantz. And I’m not going to get into the – this won’t surprise you because I’ve said it many times. I’m not going to get into the underlying details of the conversation, the negotiations. In our view, the obstacles are not surmountable.
*QUESTION:* Not what?
*MR MILLER:* In our – not insurmountable – are not insurmountable. Excuse me. In our view, it should be possible to reach an agreement. We think the proposal that Israel put on the table in consultation with the United States and with Qatar and Egypt is one that Hamas should agree to, and it’s one that would alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people and bring about an immediate ceasefire for six weeks. And so we think that agreement can be reached. But as I said and as you heard the Secretary say, ultimately Hamas has to make decisions as well.
*QUESTION:* Okay. And then this is my – this will be my last one. But when you say the obstacles – in your view the obstacles are not insurmountable, one of the things that you have said repeatedly over and over again is that Hamas could end this right now by just surrendering, laying down all their weapons. Clearly that’s not going to happen, so is that not an obstacle that you are putting into the calculus now?
*MR MILLER: *I think we’re a little bit conflating two things. They could end this entire conflict, right. We don’t need a temporary ceasefire. If Hamas would lay down their weapons and stop fighting, you could have a permanent ceasefire because Israel would have accomplished its military objectives. With respect to the temporary ceasefire that we are trying to achieve, we very much think that an agreement is reachable (inaudible).
*QUESTION: *So you don’t think that Hamas has to lay down its weapons and surrender in order to get a temporary ceasefire?
*MR MILLER: *To get a temporary ceasefire, no.
*QUESTION:* Okay.
*MR MILLER:* Obviously, we would support them laying down their weapons and reaching – ending – ending this —
*QUESTION: *Well, I’m sure you would support them – I’m —
*MR MILLER: *Ending this conflict, but that is not what we’re – that is not —
*QUESTION: *You would support a lot of things. I’m sure.
*MR MILLER: *That is not what we’re discussing with respect to a six-week ceasefire.
*QUESTION: *Okay. All right, thank you.
*MR MILLER: *Yeah, Shaun, go ahead.
*QUESTION: *Could I just follow up on that? Just some comments in the past couple of hours, one by Hamas saying that negotiations can’t last indefinitely. And then the President, the – President Biden’s saying that it’s dangerous not to have a ceasefire in place by Ramadan. Is there a sense that the clock is ticking for this, that – I know you say that’s – as soon as possible. But is there a sense that it’s basically not necessarily now or never but that we really need to get it before Ramadan?
*MR MILLER: *I would not put it that way. The clock is always ticking, but the clock is not ticking because of the – in my view because of Ramadan coming up. The clock is ticking because every day people are suffering. Innocent Palestinians are suffering and the hostages are suffering, so the clock is always ticking because we want to end that suffering of both hostages and innocent Palestinians as soon as possible. And so we would like to have gotten an agreement last week; we would like to get an agreement today; we would like to get an agreement by Ramadan or even before that. So the clock is really not related to Ramadan but related to the ongoing suffering that we are trying to bring to a close.
Yeah.
*QUESTION: *Come to the humanitarian situation, which you described as unacceptable and unsustainable. Your colleague John Kirby, yesterday in a briefing, talked about – he was asked about what’s preventing more aid from getting into Gaza, talked about – there have been some inorganic obstacles thrown up —
*MR MILLER: *Excuse me.
*QUESTION: *Inorganic obstacles thrown up in some cases by members of the Israeli cabinet that have made it hard to get aid in. What are those – like what are the obstacles specifically that he’s talking about that there?
*MR MILLER: *So I’m not going to – I will let him speak to what he was speaking to. But I will say some of the obstacles that we have seen from the Israeli political establishment: you have seen ministers in the Israeli Government block the release of flour from the port at Ashdod; you have seen ministers of the Israeli Government supporting protests that blocked aid from going in to Kerem Shalom. So all of those things are obstacles coming from ministers inside the Israeli Government that we have called out, that we have said are unacceptable, and that we have said should end.
*QUESTION: *Does that include the refusal to open the Erez crossing or another crossing in the north?
*MR MILLER: *We want to see another crossing open and it’s something we’re engaged with quite directly with the Israeli Government, and that includes in the conversation that the Secretary had with Minister Gantz today. He was quite direct and quite frank about the seriousness of the situation on the ground and the fact that it is incumbent on everyone involved to do more to get aid in urgently, as soon as possible.
*QUESTION: *I want to ask about how this relates to the Foreign Assistance Act – 1961, I believe. It has a part of the act that basically says no foreign – no assistance shall be furnished to countries that prohibit or otherwise restrict the transport delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance. Is Israel in breach of that?
*MR MILLER: *I will have to go back and look at the language of that text. It’s not something that I’ve spent a lot of time looking at. But we are always engaged with Israel, as we are with all countries, about their need to fulfill all U.S. statutory requirements, and we have not made an assessment that Israel is in breach of any such statutory requirements at this time.
*QUESTION: *Is this building working on an assessment that would determine whether that’s happening or not?
*MR MILLER: *I don’t have any such assessment to read out at this time.
*QUESTION:* Yeah. Thank you.
*MR MILLER:* Yeah, go ahead.
*QUESTION: *Thank you. Thank you, Matt. On the questions raised by Matt and Shaun and Simon on the stated goals by Israel. When this war began, they were asking for decapitation of Hamas, hunting the leadership, freeing the hostages, and changing the regime. Those were the ones that were stated. Now 150 days later, how far along have the Israelis gotten? I mean, they’ve probably degraded Hamas by and large. But do you have an assessment on how much of Hamas has been degraded?
*MR MILLER: *I will leave it to Israel to offer those types of assessments.
*QUESTION: *So – but certainly, I mean, you support their goals. You just said that you support their pursuit of these goals, which means that if you are going to continue with the same kind of support that we have seen thus far, it means that this will continue to go on.
*MR MILLER: *I cannot tell you how long —
*QUESTION: *You presume —
*MR MILLER: *Sorry. I cannot tell you how long that this war will continue to go on. But if Israel were to stop the war today —
*QUESTION: *Right.
*MR MILLER: *— let’s remember about what would happen, which is the same terrorist organization that launched the attacks of October 7th would still be in place, would still have the ability to plot attacks against Israel, would still have the ability to carry out attacks against Israel, and remember, have said still possess the intent to carry out attacks on Israel.
*QUESTION: *Yeah. But you also said you cannot so easily defeat an idea, basically. And this idea was spawned by the occupation, by repression. I mean, it could happen in the West Bank, where we see very heavy-handed Israeli occupation. It could happen elsewhere. So I mean, how could you overcome that without offering the Palestinians something tangible that they can hang on to?
*MR MILLER: *So a few things. One, obviously, the conflict and the dispute between Israel and the Palestinian people goes back decades. Two, there’s nothing in that conflict – nothing in the months, years, decades leading up to October 7th – that justified the violence of October 7th. And then three, I think you are well aware that we believe the ultimate way to resolve the longstanding conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people is the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with real security guarantees for Israel, and that’s what we’re working to try to achieve.
*QUESTION:* If you’ll allow me just a couple more. By the way, on the aid, can you update us on the whereabouts of Mr. David Satterfield, and what is he doing?
*MR MILLER:* I don’t know where he is today. I haven’t talked to him today.
*QUESTION:* Okay. All right. I wanted to ask you about UNRWA. I mean, I asked yesterday, but if – I know that the U.S. is trying to encourage other donors to be generous and so on, but thus far there is no – has there been any clarification on where you stand as far as the investigation in – that is ongoing, or when is it – when are you likely to resume the aid?
*MR MILLER:* So there has been no change in this, our status, since you asked me the same question yesterday –
*QUESTION:* Yesterday, that’s right. Right.
*MR MILLER:* — which is the – both of the investigations that the United Nations are conducting are ongoing, and we are not able to make a change in our status. We’re not able to make either an underlying factual assessment or determine how that factual assessment would affect our status until those investigations are completed, which they, as of yet, are not.
*QUESTION:* Because you know – I know I asked about this yesterday, but millions of Palestinians depend on UNRWA aid daily, every day. I mean, they don’t wait for policies to be investigated and so on and so on. They still need it, and these people are – by and large, they are in dire need.
*MR MILLER:* And we fully agree with that. As you’ve said – as you’ve heard me say many times, you’ve heard the Secretary say, we support the work of UNRWA. And while we are exploring other options to get food assistance in to the Palestinian people while our funding of UNRWA is paused, we are also in conversations with other international partners about the ways that they can fill gaps. Remember, our funding that we suspended – we weren’t due for another large payment until June. That’s still several months away. So we are working to do everything we can to make sure that the delivery of humanitarian assistance into Gaza and then the really important role that UNRWA plays in ensuring that that aid is distributed inside Gaza can continue and, in fact, not just continue but be improved.
*QUESTION:* Thank you.
*MR MILLER:* Go ahead.
*QUESTION:* Thank you. A couple questions. Hungary finally signed the ratification of Sweden’s membership. Do you expect depositing the instrument of ratification this week?
*MR MILLER:* So we have not yet received the instrument. They were – it was just signed this morning. We do expect it to be delivered to Washington in the coming days, and for Sweden’s accession to NATO to be completed, but I don’t have an exact timing to provide today.
*QUESTION:* On that line there, there are reports that Prime Minister Orbán will meet with former President Trump in Mar-a-Lago this week. Is there any concern about —
*MR MILLER:* I don’t have any comment on the prime minister’s reported meetings.
*QUESTION:* Thank you. Moving to Ukraine, if I may. May I get your thoughts on the ICC arrest warrant today for Russian military commanders?
*MR MILLER:* Yeah. So we have seen the news that the ICC issued arrest warrants for Sergei Kobylash and Viktor Sokolov for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. The United States supports a range of international investigations into Russia’s atrocities in Ukraine, including the one conducted by the ICC, but we do not weigh in on each decision and development as part of those investigations.
*QUESTION:* And separately, have you seen so-called Medvedev map on social media? What do you make of it?
*MR MILLER:* I’ve – I think I saw a tweet related to it. I didn’t look at the map, so I’m not – I don’t have a comment on it, unless you’d like to enlighten me about what it shows. I can imagine.
*QUESTION:* And finally, you started out with Secretary Toria. I just wanted to remind you that she – last month she was in Kyiv, and she made a statement saying that 2024 will bring certain solid successes on the battlefield. And she said – I’m quoting – “Putin is going to get some nice surprises on the battlefield.” Do you share that sentiment?
*MR MILLER:* I do. I do. We believe that Ukraine has a plan that they can execute to achieve victories on the battlefield. We’ve seen them making – having victories on the battlefield, most recently in the Black Sea, where in the last 24 hours they sunk another Russian ship. So we do believe that they have some surprises in store. We look forward to seeing the results.
*QUESTION:* Thank you.
*MR MILLER:* Go ahead.
*QUESTION:* On the Benny Gantz visit, the Israeli press, “Israel Hayom”, Israel Today, their diplomatic correspondent writing about the visit, saying that Mr. Gantz explained to government officials that in order to remove from Hamas the civilian capabilities in Gaza it is better that there be a certain period of chaos in the Gaza Strip. First of all, has Mr. Gantz said that to American officials?
*MR MILLER:* I’m not going to – I, as per general rule, will not speak to what other officials said in —
*QUESTION:* What’s your assessment, though, of that contention, that – because the Israelis have made it clear they want the complete elimination of Hamas. That includes its role in the civilian administration of Gaza. We’re seeing chaos and a complete inability to secure Gaza, which is a disaster for people on the ground. If that is – and it seems to be, judging by the military activity – the position of the Israeli Government and the military, what’s your assessment of that as a tactic and strategy?
*MR MILLER:* So two things. Number one, as you heard me say a moment ago, I think in response to Said’s question and to Matt’s question, we do support Israel’s objective of defeating Hamas militarily. With respect to the civil administration of Gaza post-conflict, Hamas is a terrorist organization, dedicated – designated a terrorist organization by the United States, but even apart from legal designations, you just have to look at their actions on October 7th to realize that they’re a terrorist organization that carries out brutal, intentional attacks on civilians. And we do not believe that a terrorist organization can or should play a role in civilian governance of Gaza going forward.
*QUESTION:* So what happens? Because this is no longer a day-after issue; this is a now issue, as we’ve talked about. It’s happening now. There’s nobody to run Gaza. So who should do it? I mean, who’s – what are you saying to the Israelis about who’s going to – who’s securing it? I mean, without security you can’t do anything else. There’s no security there at the moment.
*MR MILLER:* So the ultimate —
*QUESTION:* So who is responsible?
*MR MILLER:* So right now, Israel is the power that has brought a military that is ultimately in charge of the security situation on the ground. We believe that there needs to be a transition, ultimately, to governance led by the Palestinian Authority, and that would include security and other government functions led by the Palestinian Authority, and with respect to both the West Bank and Gaza.
*QUESTION:* And that’s exactly what Israel says it won’t accept, is a PA-run Gaza Strip.
*MR MILLER:* And we continue to push for it.
Yeah, go ahead.
*QUESTION:* Thanks, Matt. Staying on the region, also on Benny Gantz’s visit – as we all know, he spent several hours at the White House yesterday; he’s met with the Secretary this morning. There’s been some reporting that Gantz was surprised at the strength of criticism that he faced about the humanitarian situation when speaking to the Biden administration, and I was wondering if you are able to comment at all on whether that seems accurate, given that he’s met with the Secretary this morning. And then I had another question about Hamas also.
*MR MILLER:* I will not speak to the minister’s impressions, just as I would never speak to the impressions of another foreign government official coming out of one of our meetings. But I can say the Secretary was quite direct and quite frank in his conversations today about the urgency of addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza – both in south and central Gaza, and also in northern Gaza, as was brought to light so vividly and tragically last week with that terrible incident in northern Gaza.
*QUESTION:* And is there any reason why he would seem surprised, given that this department and the administration have repeatedly brought up humanitarian —
*MR MILLER:* Again, I just don’t want to speak to his impressions.
*QUESTION:* Okay. And on Hamas: A Hamas spokesperson had spoken to the BBC, I think yesterday, and had brought up this issue of not being able to pull together a list of hostages for Israel. And given that Israel is saying that one of their – that they would – they require a list of hostages as part of a ceasefire agreement, how do you square the two? It’s a chicken-or-egg situation. Do you have any comment on Hamas saying that that’s their sticking point?
*MR MILLER:* So I don’t want to speak – I kind of don’t want to speak to it in detail, just because I think it gets perilously close to talking about the underlying negotiations. But I will just say, speaking generally, if you are Israel and you are in discussions about an agreement where you would see the return of a certain number of hostages, it is a fair question to Hamas to show you that they can actually deliver on that deal, and show you who those hostages are, and confirm that they are alive, and confirm their status. And so we think that is very much a legitimate request by the state of Israel, to know what exactly Hamas can deliver, and what is the status of the hostages that they are holding, the hostages they have held for well over a hundred days now, and are they actually prepared to deliver them over as part of any agreement.
Janne.
*QUESTION:* Thank you, Matt. Two questions. The United States’s ultimate goal is the complete and verifiable denuclearization on North Korea. White House Senior Advisor for Asia Rapp-Hooper recently mentioned on consideration of intermediate toward North Korean denuclearization. Does this mean a change in the Biden – President Biden’s administration’s North Korean policy?
*MR MILLER:* It does not indicate a change in policy, and I would refer you to the White House for further elaboration on those remarks.
*QUESTION:* But it still remain this same policy?
*MR MILLER:* Correct.
*QUESTION:* All right. Thank you. And then secondly, regarding the ongoing U.S. and ROK joint military exercises, Kim Jong-un warned that the U.S. and South Korea will pay the price. What is your reaction?
*MR MILLER:* It is obviously not the first time we’ve seen inflammatory rhetoric by North Korean officials. Not at all surprising, even though it is unfortunate. I will say that we – the only thing I will say is that we will continue to stand with our South Korean ally.
Go ahead.
*QUESTION:* Thank you.
*MR MILLER:* Yeah, go ahead.
*QUESTION:* Thank you. We know that Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will be in Washington tomorrow. And the U.S. Army is building three 155mm projectile metal part lines in Texas. And the contract was awarded to General Dynamics, whose subcontractors include Turkish defense industry corporations, according to Pentagon.
My question is on a very technical legal angle, actually: Does any agreement with Turks allow the U.S. to pass on these rounds to third-party countries such as Israel? Did or can Turks place a condition to prevent such a transfer of this artillery once they are in the U.S. stocks? Is any discussion on this matter expected tomorrow?
*MR MILLER:* I would defer that question to my colleagues at the Pentagon.
*QUESTION:* I did that, actually.
*MR MILLER:* As it relates to a U.S. military contract. It’s just not something we would speak to from here.
*QUESTION:* Thank you.
*MR MILLER:* Go ahead.
*QUESTION:* Yeah. Did – me?
*MR MILLER:* Yeah.
*QUESTION:* Okay. Did you get any promising answer from Israel regarding opening more crossing points?
*MR MILLER:* It continues to be a matter that we have pressed to them is important, and important that be – that these crossings be opened urgently, immediately. But I’m not going to speak to the conversations in any detail.
*QUESTION:* Did you request open all the crossing points, or some of them?
*MR MILLER:* We have requested additional crossings that be opened in the north, and I don’t want to get any more specific on that.
*QUESTION:* Thank you.
*MR MILLER:* Go ahead. I’ll come to you next.
*QUESTION:* Pakistan’s new prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif directed authorities to fast-track negotiations with the IMF as the nation’s $3 billion bailout program is set to end next month. Is U.S. assisting or helping Pakistan in these negotiations?
*MR MILLER:* Let me take that back and get you an answer.
*QUESTION:* And sir, the freedom of speech has been under assault in Pakistan in – for the last many, many months. Recently a member of Pakistan’s senate submitted a resolution demanding the ban of popular social media platforms. Do you have any comment on that?