Kirby emphasized that while people have the right to express their opinions under the First Amendment, he found the use of the term “genocide” inappropriate.
John Kirby, the spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, criticized anti-Israel activists for using the term “genocide” to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza which its objective is self-defense against a genocidal terrorist threat.
He asserted that Hamas, on the other hand, explicitly seeks genocide by expressing intentions to wipe Israel off the map and perpetrating acts of violence, such as the events on October 7.