U.S. Amb. to U.N.: ‘Impossible’ to Move People out of Rafah, Israel Can’t Harm People Hamas Uses as ‘Shields’

On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that the U.S. will “continue to press” Israel not to go into Rafah and that it’s “impossible” to move people out of the area. Thomas-Greenfield added that “It is important that Hamas, a terrorist organization, be defeated. But we also have to ensure that innocent Palestinians who are caught in the crossfire, who are being used as human shields by Hamas, are not continually harmed.”

Thomas-Greenfield stated, “Well, for the moment, he has not gone into Rafah. And we will continue to press the Israelis not to make that decision, because we know that that decision will be an extraordinarily difficult one for any of us to accept. And that’s the message that we continue to give to the Israelis. The president gave that message to [Prime Minister] Netanyahu. He’s speaking to his public, but we have to continue to press him not to take an action that we think would not be in the interests of Israel, and not in the interests, certainly, of the people on the ground. 1.5 million people are sitting in that small location. It would be impossible to move those people. So, we have to work to continue to help the Israelis. We want to help them defeat Hamas. It is important that Hamas, a terrorist organization, be defeated. But we also have to ensure that innocent Palestinians who are caught in the crossfire, who are being used as human shields by Hamas, are not continually harmed.”

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