Claims of war crimes in Gaza are ‘ridiculous,’ says adviser to Israeli government

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Allegations that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza are “insane” and “ridiculous,” an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told NPR.

Just a day after reports that Israeli military forces killed 27 people near an aid distribution site , Caroline Glick, an Israeli American conservative journalist who serves as international affairs advisor to Israel, said in an interview on Morning Edition that the reports are false.

According to the Red Cross and local Gaza health officials, the incident happened at a food distribution site Tuesday, where witnesses say Israeli forces fired on the crowd.

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The Israeli military acknowledged firing warning shots, and the private U.S.-backed group running the site insists there was no gunfire.

Speaking to NPR’s Steve Inskeep, Glick shared her account of the incident, discussed the food distribution process and defended the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza.

The interview has been edited for clarity.

Interview highlights

Steve Inskeep: I want to begin with food distribution in Gaza. There is a U.S.-backed Israeli initiative that’s supposed to be distributing food to Gazans. They’ve paused today after multiple violent incidents. And in the most recent one, it seems thousands of people were crowding to an aid site and Israeli troops who were nearby. According to our reporters, Israel acknowledges firing at people near the site. 27 people were killed. What is your understanding of what happened?

Caroline Glick: No, my understanding is different from what you’re saying. First of all, you’re right about the fact that they shut down the distribution site today because they want to get it more streamlined and they want to get more organized and make sure that both the forces and the people at the site themselves are sort of better equipped with dealing with the rush of the people who want to come in and get [aid].

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And what happened [Tuesday] was that there was a vehicle that was deliberately leaving the area where everybody was supposed to be and driving directly towards IDF forces on the ground in a threatening way. And so they shot warning shots sort of in the proximity of the people who were coming towards them. It certainly wasn’t 27, and it was about a half a kilometer away from the distribution site. So the number 27, they were killed is not accurate. That’s not what happened at all [Tuesday].

Inskeep: I want to ask about what seems to be the chaos, the necessity for a pause. This is an initiative that Israel started, that Israel decided to move forward with. Why do you think it wasn’t ready?

Glick: I think it was. I mean, it took a while to get it up and going. We were hoping that it was going to be up and going about two weeks before it began. And so it wasn’t that we rushed the opening. We would have liked it to be open two weeks earlier. So it was just a question of getting things organized on the ground properly. And I actually think, you know, despite the media coverage, which has been so distorted and fed by Hamas lies, that sometimes it’s hard to understand. But this has actually been a really successful start of a very complicated mission by people who are doing something new and taking away the control over the aid distribution from the terrorists that have controlled it throughout. The Gaza Humanitarian Fund, the American organization, has given out, so far, like nearly 8 million meals to the people of Gaza through these aid distribution.

Inskeep: Let me ask you about the intensified debate within Israel itself. We spoke last week on this program with Ehud Olmert, the former prime minister. I’m sure you’re familiar with the fact that he is accusing his own country now of war crimes. He says some cabinet members have openly called to deny food to Gazans, called to clear Gazans out, and also says the expansion of the war has no purpose, no militarily achievable purpose. How do you respond?

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Glick: I don’t feel the need to respond to a former prime minister who got out of jail recently. I mean, I don’t see any reason why he’s relevant to the discourse.

inskeep: What about Moshe Ya’alon, the former IDF chief of staff, who says the same thing?

Glick: You have a lot of people who are trying to bring down the government and they go abroad and they say nasty things, thinking that’s going to destabilize the governing coalition of Israel. But it’s nonsense. Under the rules of law, you’re allowed to lay siege on places. The idea that it’s a war crime to call for laying siege on somebody is ridiculous. I mean, it goes back to the beginnings of human warfare in history and it’s certainly codified in every known law of war. But that’s not the point. Israel really hasn’t laid siege on Gaza, but calling for it to do so, is not a war crime. That’s insane.

Listen to Throughline’s episode on how the modern world has tried to define — and prosecute — war crimes.

Inskeep: I want to ask about something else that Prime Minister Netanyahu had to say last month at a press conference. He said he would like to end the war, but under clear conditions. Some of them are familiar to us: all the hostages come home, Hamas lays down its arms, and Gaza is disarmed. But he added one more thing that you have also affirmed in a speech, which is that Israel will carry out the Trump plan. President Trump’s idea was to remove all 2 million people and replace them with some kind of resort, like the Riviera. What specifically is Israel’s plan then? Who will be living there and when?

Glick: I mean, the Trump plan is very simple. It says every war zone has people who live in it and they’re allowed to leave. The only place on earth where people haven’t been allowed to leave a war zone is Gaza because Egypt closed the door and wouldn’t let them out. And what President Trump’s vision is, is let these people make a choice. If they want to stay, they can stay. If they want to go, then allow them to leave. And that is what Israel says. And, you know, the Gallup polls, the Palestinian polls all show that over a million Gazans want to leave Gaza and nobody is letting them. So I think that Israel’s desire to implement the Trump plan is just a desire to allow the people of Gaza what everybody on earth should have, which is the freedom to choose where they want to live.

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Inskeep: And when you said in that speech , “this is our land, legally, historically, – ours, all of it,” did you include Gaza when you said all of it?

Glick: Well, you know, you can take it for what you want, but I think President Trump’s idea of Gaza is the one that the government of Israel is adopting, that we believe that Gaza has to be rebuilt, that right now it’s one great big minefield because Hamas booby trapped every single structure in Gaza. And it’s going to take years to clean that up and clear it out to make it fit for human habitation. And in the meantime, the people of Gaza shouldn’t have to live in a minefield.

This digital article was edited by Treye Green.

17 things Trump and his team did this week

8 February 2025 Share Save Mallory Moench BBC News Share Save

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The third week of Donald Trump’s second term has been marked by more major action from the US president and his team. From announcing US goals on the future of Gaza and massively slashing the US agency for foreign aid to intervening in a golf dispute and banning transgender women from female sports competitions, Trump, his adviser Elon Musk and the rest of his team have pressed on with their agenda. There’s a lot to keep up with – so here’s a reminder of 17 moves this week.

1. Proposed the US ‘take over’ Gaza

At a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday, Trump said the US would “take over” and “own” Gaza, resettling its Palestinian population in the process. Trump proposed developing the territory, devastated after 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas, into the “Riviera of the Middle East”. “The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting,” Trump repeated on social media on Thursday, reiterating the idea would mean resettling Palestinians who currently live there. Trump suggested the displacement would be permanent, but administration officials later suggested any relocation would be only temporary. Any forced deportation of civilians would be a violation of international law. Read Jeremy Bowen’s take on Trump’s vision for Gaza

Why does Trump want to take over Gaza and could he do it?

How Trump’s plan compares to international law

Can Trump really take ownership of Gaza?

2. Planned to put thousands of USAID staff on leave

Thousands of employees at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the government’s main foreign aid agency, were expected to be placed on leave at midnight on Friday. That was until a judge temporarily blocked President Trump’s plan, hours before it was due to happen. Judge Carl Nichols issued a “limited” temporary restraining order, in response to a last-minute lawsuit filed by two unions trying to save the agency. The proposed cuts will affect the vast majority of the agency’s workforce, leaving only a few hundred essential staff out of a total of about 10,000 employees globally. The move comes after workers were asked to stay out of the agency’s Washington DC headquarters earlier this week. Cutbacks at the agency have upended the global aid system, with hundreds of programmes already frozen in countries around the world. The Trump administration reportedly intends to merge the agency, which distributes billions of dollars in aid globally, with the state department, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters he was now the acting head of the agency. Read this piece on the effect aid cuts are already having

Judge blocks Trump plan to put thousands of USAID staff on leave

BBC Verify has debunked false video claims that Hollywood stars were ‘paid’ by USAID to visit Ukraine

3. Imposed tariffs on China and pulled back threats on neighbours

Trump imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese imports on Tuesday, but held off on his threat of implementing 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico for 30 days, after those countries’ leaders pledged to beef up border security. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed to reinforce the US-Canada border to clamp down on migration and the flow of the deadly drug fentanyl. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to bolster the country’s northern border with troops, and in return the US would limit the flow of guns into Mexico. The tariffs, which some experts suggest could exacerbate inflation, were part of Trump’s campaign platform ahead of November’s election. Some Canadians cancel US subscriptions and trips after Trump threats

China threatens to retaliate with tariffs on the US

Watch: ‘I’m getting angry and anti-American’ – Canadians on tariff threat

4. Pressed ahead with plan to incentivise federal workers to resign

The Trump administration had offered incentives to federal workers to voluntarily resign by a Thursday midnight deadline – part of an effort to slash the size of the government. However, a US judge temporarily halted the plan hours before the deadline, pausing it until a hearing on Monday to determine the merits of a lawsuit filed by federal employee unions, CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, reported. Some of the federal government’s more than two million civilian workers have voiced confusion about the terms of the deal, which the administration says would allow them to receive pay and benefits through September in exchange for resigning. Critics have questioned the legality of the offer and some federal employee unions have advised members to exercise caution around accepting the deal. ‘We were blindsided’: Federal workers react to buy-out offer

5. Sanctioned the International Criminal Court

On Thursday, Trump signed an order to impose sanctions on some staff of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The sanctions place financial and visa restrictions on individuals and their families who assist in ICC investigations of American citizens or allies. The Hague-based court brings global prosecutions for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Recently, it issued arrest warrants for a Hamas commander and Israel’s Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza, which Israel denies. Trump’s announcement came as Netanyahu was visiting Washington DC. More than 120 countries, including the UK, are members of the ICC, though the US and Israel are not. What is the ICC and why has Trump sanctioned it?

6. Ordered strikes against the Islamic State group in Somalia

Trump said he ordered military air strikes on a senior attack planner and others from the Islamic State (IS) group in north-east Somalia on 1 February. He said “many terrorists” were killed “without, in any way, harming civilians”. The BBC could not independently verify reports of casualties. The office of Somalia’s president on social media welcomed the “unwavering support of the United States in the fight against international terrorism”. Read our correspondent on why Trump is on the warpath in Somalia

7. Withdrew from United Nations institutions

Trump also took action to end US involvement in several UN institutions. On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the US from the main UN agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, of which Israel has been highly critical. The same order said the US would no longer participate in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and the US would conduct a review of its membership in the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) within 90 days. Read more about Unrwa and why Israel has banned it

8. Sent first plane of deportees to Guantanamo

The US sent the first group of migrants to Guantanamo Bay on Tuesday, after Trump announced plans to expand migrant detention at the US Navy base in Cuba. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the detainees were part of the Tren de Aragua – a gang that originated in Venezuela’s prisons. Ten detainees were sent, CBS reported, citing multiple US officials. The move came after Trump ordered that an existing migrant detention facility at the base be expanded to hold some 30,000 people. The Naval base has been used to house a small number migrants – a few dozen at a time, in recent years – for decades. Separately, nearly 800 people – most held on suspicions of terrorism – have been jailed at the base’s detention centre since it opened in 2002. About 15 people are still held there now, according to US media. Deportation flights also carried migrants back to India this week. Read about the row between India and the US over deportation flights

What is birthright citizenship and can Trump ban it?

9. Demanded Ukraine provide rare earth resources

On Monday, Trump said he wanted Ukraine to guarantee the supply of more rare earth metals in exchange for $300bn (£240bn) to support its fight against Russia. “We want what we put up to go in terms of a guarantee… we’re looking to do a deal with Ukraine where we’re going to secure what we’re giving them with their rare earth (minerals) and other things,” Trump said. Ukraine has large deposits of uranium, lithium and titanium, which can be used for defence and electronics manufacturing, CBS reported. In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country was open to investment by American companies. Zelensky says war will ‘end sooner’ with Trump as president

10. Banned transgender competitors from women’s sports

Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday that prevents transgender women from competing in female categories of sports. The order outlines guidance, regulations and legal interpretations largely around high school, university and grassroots sports. However, Trump said the order would include the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, adding he would deny visas for transgender Olympic athletes trying to visit the US to compete. Read what the ban includes and what people are saying

11. Released water from dams in California

Trump on Monday ordered the Army Corps of Engineers to release billions of gallons of water from two reservoirs in California’s Central Valley after deadly wildfires in Los Angeles in January. Trump had claimed California withheld water supplies that could have made a difference in fighting the fires, which the state’s Governor Gavin Newsom and other officials disputed, CBS reported. The water was released into a dry lakebed more than 100 miles (160km) away from the fires. Experts and officials told CBS the water could not flow to Los Angeles and would likely go to waste. US Congressman Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California, said that before the water in the dams was released, it was being “saved for the farmers for the summer season when they needed the water” in the state’s agricultural region. How climate change made LA fires worse, scientists say

12. Announced taskforce to tackle ‘anti-Christian bias’

Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that aimed “to protect the religious freedoms of Americans and end the anti-Christian weaponization of government”. He appointed newly confirmed Attorney General Pam Bond to lead a task force to eradicate what he called “anti-Christian bias” in the federal government. Trump signed the order after giving remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC. ‘Anointed by God’: The Christians who see Trump as their saviour

13. Intervened in a dispute in the golf world

Trump, an avid golf player who owns courses around the world, reportedly intervened in a dispute between championship organiser PGA Tour and its rival series LIV Golf. After the launch of LIV Golf led to a rift, the rivals entered negotiations and announced a “framework agreement” for a merger, but a deadline to complete that deal passed. This week, PGA Tour said it was “closer to a deal” with LIV Golf after calling on Trump to step in. “We asked the president to get involved for the good of the game, the good of the country, and for all the countries involved,” said the statement. “We are grateful that his leadership has brought us closer to a final deal, paving the way for reunification of men’s professional golf.” Read more about the split in the golf world

14. Removed climate change mentions from government websites

Starting last week, the Trump administration reportedly ordered some US government agency websites to remove references to climate change. It has affected the websites of the departments of transportation, defence, state and agriculture, which manages the forest service, the Guardian reported. Some climate content remained on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Nasa and energy department’s sites. This week, some employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) were also ordered to temporarily stop communicating with foreign nationals, US media reported. The change came after reports that staff from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) – which is not an official government department – entered the offices of NOAA and took over the agency’s internal websites, removing pages devoted to diversity-focused employee affinity groups. What we know about Doge, Trump and Musk’s new cost-cutting mission

15. Increased access for Musk’s Doge

President Donald Trump said on Friday that he had directed Musk’s Doge, a cost-cutting initiative to shrink the federal government, to “check out” spending at the defence department among other agencies. “Pentagon, education, just about everything,” Trump said during a news conference with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. The Trump administration also gave members of Doge access to a US treasury department payments system that controls the flow of trillions of dollars in funds every year, US media reported. But on Saturday, a federal judge blocked Doge from accessing the personal financial data of millions of Americans in Treasury Department records. US District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer issued a preliminary injunction to prohibit access, ordering Musk and his team to immediately destroy any copies of records. Musk’s newly created Doge, which is not an official federal department, has been heavily involved in government upheaval. Inside Musk’s race to upend government

Judge blocks Musk team access to Treasury Department records

16. Joe Biden’s security clearance revoked

Trump revoked Joe Biden’s security clearance and access to daily intelligence briefings on Friday – something Biden did to Trump four years ago. “There is no need for Joe Biden to continue receiving access to classified information,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. “JOE, YOU’RE FIRED,” the Republican added in a reference to his catchphrase on the reality TV show, The Apprentice. It came among a flurry of other announcements on Friday, which included an executive order freezing financial assistance to South Africa and announcing that he would fire the board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC and name himself chairman.

17. Scraps task force that seized assets of Russian oligarchs

US to start immediately on fresh push for Gaza ceasefire

28 November 2024 Share Save Robert Greenall, Yolande Knell and Rushdi Abualouf BBC News, London, Jerusalem and Ankara, Turkey Share Save

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President Joe Biden has said the US will make another push with regional powers for a ceasefire in Gaza, involving the release of hostages and the removal of Hamas from power. His remarks on X come just hours after a ceasefire came into force in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, ending nearly 14 months of conflict. Hamas said it hoped for a similar deal in Gaza but continues to reject Israel’s demands, which it perceives as surrender. Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 44,000 people have been killed and more than 104,000 injured in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry. “Over the coming days, the United States will make another push with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and others to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza with the hostages released and an end to the war without Hamas in power,” Biden said on X. US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden had agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu right before the announcement of the Lebanon ceasefire to try again for a Gaza agreement, which negotiators have sought unsuccessfully for months. The US and its Arab allies used to say that a ceasefire in Gaza would end the conflict with Hezbollah. Now they are hoping for the reverse. The argument goes that the truce in Lebanon shows compromises are possible and that Hamas may now feel more isolated, putting pressure on it to agree to concessions. However, the goals of the Israeli government in Lebanon were always more limited than those in Gaza, where it has failed to agree a post-war plan. Qatar recently suspended its efforts to help mediate a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Palestinian territory until both sides shifted their positions. Hamas insists on ending the war and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, while Israel remains determined to destroy Hamas. Netanyahu’s political survival is also bound up with Gaza. His far-right coalition partners aspire to rebuild Jewish settlements there and have threatened to collapse the government if Israel makes a “reckless” agreement to stop the fighting. Netanyahu also worries that a ceasefire could open the way to a commission of inquiry into Israel’s failure to prevent the 7 October attacks, which would be very damaging for him.

EPA Many Israelis feel their government has not done enough to free the hostages

Hamas reacted positively to the Lebanon ceasefire, and said it was ready to consider a truce in Gaza. “We appreciate the steadfastness of the brotherly Lebanese people, and their constant solidarity with the Palestinian people,” Hamas leader Basem Naim told the BBC. “We express our commitment to cooperate with any efforts to stop the fire in Gaza, and we are concerned with stopping the aggression against our people.” The organisation has faced significant challenges, including an inability to convene its leadership since the killing of Yahya Sinwar by Israel. Its leaders are now scattered across Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, and disconnected from those managing the hostages held in Gaza. These hostages appear to be Hamas’s remaining leverage, as the group’s capacity to fight Israel has been very limited, and its popularity has significantly declined in Gaza. Amos Hochstein, the US envoy who negotiated the ceasefire in Lebanon, told BBC Newshour he was hopeful the deal could pave the way to a ceasefire in Gaza and even for the normalisation of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. “I know I sound crazy, but then again people thought I sounded crazy when I said I thought I could get a deal in Lebanon,” he said. “I read many articles [about] how I was in fantasy-land. “Will it happen? I don’t know, but we have an opportunity and I think that’s why this deal is so important. “It’s not just about Lebanon. It’s a key that unlocks potentially an even broader door.” Despite insisting on three conditions – an Israeli withdrawal, a permanent ceasefire and the reconstruction of Gaza – Hamas has indicated to mediators on many occasions its willingness to make substantial concessions. For now, Hamas remains unwilling to agree to terms it perceives as surrender, but it has little room for manoeuvre in the negotiations, as the gap between the two sides has become deeper and the sound of the guns will remain louder. Meanwhile, on Gaza’s streets, the ceasefire has raised some concerns. “We were overjoyed by the cessation of the war in Lebanon, and we also hope for the same here in the Gaza Strip,” one man in Khan Younis told Gaza Today. “However, at the same time, we have concerns that the occupation army might once again intensify its raids in Gaza and that its military forces might return from Lebanon to Gaza.” “We don’t want anyone to experience what we’ve gone through here in Gaza,” another man said. “We don’t want to see children killed, women trapped under rubble, or the recurring scenes of bloodshed in Lebanon that we have witnessed here. “On the other hand, I believe the Israeli army will focus its raids on Gaza.”