Kirby says US would do the ‘same thing’ if it was attacked like Israel

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the United States would do the “same thing” Israel is doing if it was attacked like Israel was on Oct. 7 as the country ups its bombardment of Gaza.

Kirby reiterated that Israel has a right to defend itself in the wake of the deadly attack launched by militant group Hamas on Oct. 7 when Fox News’s Shannon Bream asked about some proposals suggesting that the U.S. place restrictions on aid to Israel.

“Israel is a sovereign nation attacked in a brutal way on the seventh of October,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.” “They have every right and responsibility to go after the terrorist group that perpetrated these attacks and planet and oh, by the way, has made clear they're going to do it again and do more. They every right and responsibility to go after them.”

“We would do the same thing — any nation would,” he said.

Israel’s retaliatory attacks on Gaza, which is where it says it is targeting Hamas, have resulted in more than 13,000 Palestinians killed, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Many critics have suggested that the situation in Gaza has turned into a humanitarian crisis as life-saving supplies like medical supplies, water, food and fuel run low in the territory.

Israel ordered more evacuations in southern Gaza on Sunday, where thousands of residents have already fled to escape the heavy bombardment in the north. This came after a weeklong truce ended on Friday after Hamas failed to produce a list of hostages to be released.

The weeklong truce resulted in more than 100 hostages released by Hamas in exchange for about 240 Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli prisons. However, it’s unclear when or if talks will resume to negotiate another temporary cease-fire.

Kirby said the U.S. has continued to share “perspectives and our lessons learned about urban warfare.” He emphasized that the U.S. is not going to stop giving Israel security assistance that it needs.

“Of course, we're going to share that that's what friends do, but they're making these decisions. They're deciding the targets that they're going to hit,” he said. “We obviously will continue to talk to them about being as careful and cautious as possible.”

“We don't want to see any more innocent civilians killed,” he added.