White House blames Hamas for ‘violence’, Trump stays mum
WASHINGTON: The White House has blamed Palestinian group Hamas for the killing of 60 protesters by Israeli forces on Monday, stating that the Middle East peace plan that the US is working on will not be impacted by the violence or the relocation of the American embassy to Jerusalem that caused it.
“The responsibility for these tragic deaths rests squarely with Hamas,” White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah said on Monday. Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has been designated a terrorist group by the US and its western allies.
“Hamas is intentionally and cynically provoking this response. And as the secretary of state said, Israel has the right to defend itself,” Shah said, accusing the group of fomenting violence as a “gruesome and unfortunate propaganda attempt”.
Shah was echoing the sentiments of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner. At the opening ceremony of the embassy on Monday, Kushner had said that “those provoking violence are part of the problem and not part of the solution”.
Trump said that the inauguration was a “great day for Israel” but never once mentioned the violence in multiple tweets posted on Monday.
His silence was in marked contrast to the calls for an investigation into the violence that came from Western allies, including France and Britain.