Live: Vedant Patel conducts State Department briefing

Live: Vedant Patel conducts State Department briefing

e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e good afternoon everybody um I have uh I don’t have anything off the top um so dapan you want to kick us off yeah thank you so much uh prime prime minister NM yahu said today that Israel will carry out an operation against Hamas in uh Rafa regardless of whether or not sorry regardless of whether or not a ceasefire and hostage release deal is reached is it still the case that the US hasn’t seen a credible plan for entering Rafa and what will you do if they go ahead as Netanyahu is warning that that is that is correct we uh H continues to be the case that we have not seen a credible plan that uh would address the varying areas of concerns that you’ve heard me talk about a number of times from up here and others uh primarily uh the ability uh to address the serious humanitarian concerns surrounding uh again RAF is a a region with more than 1 million people seeking Refuge it’s an area that continues to be an important conduit for humanitarian Aid as well as a safe departure for foreign Nationals uh and so any kind of operation that’s that does not address some of these key concerns uh would certainly be uh uh opposed by us I’m not going to get into any hypotheticals uh but this is something we’re continuing to engage with our partners in Israel conversations continue to be um happening um at all levels and and will continue to uh to press forward on those conversations and um asking for uh what their plans uh may or may not be as it pertains to Rafa and are you concerned that this warning that they would go ahead with whether or not a ceasefire and hostage deal is reached could derail hostage talks uh I’m not going to speculate on that I what I can say Daphney is that we remain committed to reaching a deal for the immediate uh uh for an immediate ceasefire that it secures the relief of hostages and uh uh allows for uh additional steps to be taken in terms of uh surging humanitarian Aid uh and something that we hope will will help bolster the protection of civilians as well follow up on that Israel’s track record in in heeding to the US uh statements or calls could be arguably Is Not Great uh what gives you confidence or what makes you think that Israel would in fact listen and hear your your calls not to going into Rafa I dismute the the the premise of that a little bit Leon um over the course of this conflict there have been a number of Endeavors in which uh the United States has pressed for um that we have seen our partners in Israel undertake uh dating back to uh the beginning of this conflict even uh in the early days of of this conversation that we were having around humanitarian Aid we also continue to see steps uh being taken uh as it relates to their operation on a number of other lines of efforts in the humanitarian Aid space uh but both look when it comes to humanitarian Aid when it comes to the protection of civilians uh and when it comes to a potential um operation in Rafa uh our answer continues to be we need to see more we need to uh uh see more steps being taken um and as it relates to operation in Rafa we have yet to see a credible plan that would uh address the uh underlying concerns that I laid out uh to Daphne uh Libya go ahead yeah just because the secretary was also asked about this not long ago he said that you know that the US views on this were well known but he didn’t address part of the question that whether Israel had in fact committed to present a military and humanitarian plan so absent the plans themselves has there been a formal commitment from the Israeli government to present those plans before launching any ground inv uh I’m not going to be a spokesperson for the government of Israel through the Strategic consultative group that you have seen um National Security advisor Sullivan and secretary blinkin undertake their consultations with counterparts in Israel discussions um at those levels and through other interlocutors as part of those engagements those conversations are ongoing uh as the secretary said the United States position on this uh could not be clearer um for how long we’ve been talking about this we have expressed our serious concern about any kind of operation that does not address some of these key pieces uh and will continue to stress and and raise these very uh important issues thank you I mean I totally appreciate not asking you for the Israeli perspective on this only whether the US has actually received a commitment from the government to have formal plans presented prior to any Invasion uh I’m just not going to speak to further specificity about this process two others on the region um mind if I jum to Jillian who that and then we can we’ll I’m sure we’ll get to everybody go ahead I’m just wondering if um state has any comment or any information anything today on the you know the anti-israel protests across you know the nation now really going from California all the way to New York um but a lot of these student protesters are accusing the Biden administration of being complicit in genocide wondering if you got if diplomatically foreign policy wise you guys yeah so i’ I’ve spent um a number of the last few Daily Press briefings talking about this and I’m happy to to reiterate what I what I said before first I I will Echo what the secretary said um in in talking to one of your colleagues uh on the margins of his trip to Beijing uh demonstrating demonstrations I should say um expressing your opinion about any kind of government action expressing your opinion about foreign policy uh exercising your First Amendment right um none of those things are uh problematic or anti-semitic or islamophobic um in their own right it is when those things are coupled with um C the use of certain language and rhetoric and insults that we have seen and have been part of some of these demonstrations um beyond that uh those kinds of things of course uh we would condemn and take issue with uh but we believe that every American has every right to express their points of view to exercise their First Amendment right when it comes to policies that are that that that as it relates to any particular campus those campus officials are better suited to speak to those policies that they have in place both in terms of dealing with uh expressions of of of First Amendment rights or otherwise I’m not in a in in a space to to speak to that but uh of course um everyone has every right to uh make their point of view heard and from our perspective across this Administration we’ve made clear that um we uh insist that these happen in a peaceful nonviolent uh Manner and any kind of these demonstrations when they are paired with or coupled with uh rhetoric language um that is anti-Semitic islamophobic uh essentially insults or targets someone for just who they are that’s deeply problematic um quick followup one thing that’s kind of new as far as I’m aware is you’re seeing regimes now like the Iranian regime China started to weigh in the governments and criticize the Biden administration’s response to these protests we saw overnight the Chinese saying that the way I don’t know the US government is responding is violating these uh students rights if you have a comment on adversaries opportun the the the policies and procedures as it relates to demonstrations protesting uh things like that that may or may not exist on a particular college campus or may or may not exist in a particular town city municipality it is certainly not in the remit of of the state department so I am not going to uh even delve into that there’s other agencies that are better suited to speak to that but what I can say broadly we of course uh support um anybody uh to be able to express themselves and to exercise their first amendment rights uh they should not and cannot um become violent uh not peaceful uh and in those particular circumstances we believe it is the right of the appropriate law enforcement and uh uh enforcement and security officials to take appropriate actions consistent with the policies of that jurisdiction again we are delving far away from foreign policy and into law enforcement which is not the remit of of this ofing really is is it not from a foreign policy Foreign Relations diplomacy perspective isn’t it I mean hypocritical of the Chinese and the Iranians some of the worst human rights violators in the world to be criticizing the Biden administration’s policy response I don’t think I don’t think anybody in this Administration is interested in taking a human rights uh lesson from uh the Iranian regime or the People’s Republic of China for that matter and both of those regimes uh crackdowns on uh self-expression on uh free and fair press on basic human rights is is clear um sorry just a quick quick follow hold hold on hold on hold on the image that it’s giving St with prot was being arrested uh not necessarily the one you would want to have Leon there are laws in this uh uh country again we are delving away from the topics that are discussed in this department but if laws are being broken on certain college campuses in certain municipalities in certain towns in certain cities um in certain counties it is well within the right for the officials of those jurisdictions to enforce whatever laws that are so appropriate as it relates to that that region beyond that uh we fully support anybody’s ability to exercise their First Amendment right and make their uh opinions as it relates to any action or policy the government may or may not be taking and making their points of view hard thank you just follows and then I couple questions in my own now in response to Jill you said there are certain things that are being s in these protests that you have issue with could you share some of those with us I’m not going to uh repeat them from up here you made an assertion that you you know you are obviously in command of what what are these statements there have been a number of uh of of these demonstrations in which the imagery in which the language that has been written on some of the poster material has uh either been akin to uh what I would believe to be anti-Semitism uh but we’ve also seen Expressions rhetoric signage uh that is akin to islamophobia and the targeting of Arab American and Palestinian Americans as well uh of course any kind of language or rhetoric in that space uh is concerning troubling and unacceptable uh but again uh we fully support people’s ability to peacefully make their uh Express their first amendment rights now on the statement by the Israeli Prime Minister on RAF and he’s saying very plainly that whether there is a deal or there’s no deal I’m going to storm ruffle and you don’t have a position on this I mean he’s not waiting for a deal I think our position on Rafa I I I really don’t appreciate you side twisting my words or the words of the secretary or other officials up here we’ve made our point of view prime minister of I understand I understand your question uh and in response to your question and Daphne’s question and the number of times that we have asked been asked about a potential military operation in taraa from up here we have been unambiguous about uh the concerns that we have when it comes to the more than a million people seeking refuge in that region when it comes to this region in particular in Gaza being an important conduit for the delivery of humanitarian Aid it being a region in which foreign Nationals uh at least at the uh beginning of this conflict were able to use are able to use consistently for safe departure so any kind of operation that does not address these concerns would be a non-starter for us and you’ve heard me say this you’ve heard the secretary say this you’ve heard Matt say this you’ve heard Admiral Kirby Karen the president we have been consistent on this yeah so would it be appropriate for the United States of America to say whether there is a deal or not a deal we find that the storming of RA is unacceptable I we have been pretty clear about that s we have been we have been very clear that many any kind of military operation into toafa that does not address these concerns would be unacceptable to the United States now I have a question on the humanitarian situation officials at the United States Agency for International Development USA ID uh leaked they leaked a document that says that the Israeli government intently you know uh sort of puts obstacles in the way of these humanitarian Aid convoys or whatever uh getting through to to govern are you aware of that report so I’m just not going to comment on leak documents side why won’t you comment on this documents I I’m not going to comment on leaked documents on things that continue to exist under a deliber process I will just say that the secretary and the leaders of this Administration they hear a diverse range of views uh from across this department from across the inter agency uh when it comes to uh processes that are within the deliberative process we take those points of view into consideration but beyond that I’m just not going to um speak to uh uh reportedly leaked documents okay would you would you agree that uh there is a almost a common opinion uh among professionals and experts and so on that Israel is in fact and the prime minister of Israel are in fact take measure day after day to uh sort of make this humanitarian AIDS including American I American I would disagree with your characterization Julia thank you um I know the state department and and secretary bling made clear that the ICC uh doesn’t have jurisdiction uh in your view over uh the Palestinian conflict um but I wanted to get your response to remarks from n Yahoo uh just today um especially in context of the conversation we just had about the campus protests he said branding Israel’s leaders and soldiers as war criminals will pour jet fuel on the fires of anti-Semitism those fires that are already raging on the campuses of America and across capitals around the world do you agree with that assessment that it’s anti-semitic for the IC to pursa in yatu what do you make of him connecting this to the prot uh fundamentally at the heart of this uh Julia we do not believe that the ICC has uh jurisdiction over this issue and that’s what the cruxs here beyond that i’ I’d let the Prime Minister and officials within the Israeli government clarify or offer any commentary on his comments but the Crux of this for the United States is that we do not believe that the ICC has jurisdiction on this that being said we work closely with the ICC in a number of key areas we think that they do important work uh important work as it relates to Ukraine darur Sudan uh but again on this uh particular incidence instance in this particular instance I’m sorry um they just do not have uh jurisdiction um and then if I may another on uh Saudi Arabia there have been reports um that Saudi Arabia has decided to normalize relations with Israel but is uh waiting to determine when they do that based on the US election and the results of the election um what do you make of Saudi Arabia potentially way this presidential election so much when the urgency is now so I would i’ defer to officials in the Saudi government to speak to their uh position I’m not a a spokesperson for them uh what I can say from the United States is that um we also have been unambiguous about how uh we feel that a greater inter a more integrated middle east region is better for uh not just the interests of the United States but it is better for peace and stability um in the middle east region it is also something that we believe um other officials across the uh middle east region and Arab world uh view this as well we are continuing to work this we think that uh Israel’s further integration in the Middle East region can unlock uh additional benefits um it can offer greater security uh which is in the interest of the United States it’s in the interest of the people of Israel and it’s also in the interest of other partners uh as well uh but of course we also are continuing to stress and underly the importance of of doing everything we can to reaching a deal uh for an immediate ceasefire one that releases the hostages uh one that allows a surge of humanitarian Aid um into the region as well go ahead Nadia um I don’t know if somebody asked you about this or not but I want to ask you about the Amnesty International report go ahead okay so basically amnesty just published its report I don’t know if you’ve seen it in details but they say there is a reason reasonable evidence that Israel has committed war crimes uh VI gross violation of international of Human Rights and violation of international humanitarian law I’m just wondering I mean was something as serious as this from a very reputable organization that normally use it to talk about Rogue States Etc when they finding and they publish their reports why the state department till now has not published anything um to either contradict or to support support other human rights or organizations being talking about what’s happening in Gaza so uh first I’ve not seen that specific report Nadia but uh I think you were in The Briefing room just about a week and a half ago in which we un when we unveiled the 2024 um human rights report in which there was in fact uh a section um outlining uh Israel and the Palestinian territories uh when it comes to the current conflict in Gaza and I’ve spent number of days talking about this uh we are continuing to assess uh what is happening on the ground uh we have a number of tools at our disposal to uh look into what is happening on the ground and if required um hold appropriate and relevant parties accountable you’ve heard us talk uh a great deal in this briefing room about Ley you’ve heard us talk a great deal in this briefing room about the CH process uh we continue to have those options as well as other avenues under uh the the foreign assistance act to uh look into these things and as in any conflict Zone Nadia this work is Ono and we are feeding into that process in close coordination with not just our embassies and consulates but also Civil Society uh Independent Media reporting of such things uh and of course uh NOS as well can you just assure us that actually um you treat Israel the same way as you treat any other country that found in violation of international law because um what we hear from you is all the statements and some actions like we see with the settlers but many believe that when the prime minister of Israel pick up the phone called the White House the finding is changed and delayed and pushed just like we heard about even the secretary we were together in on uh in Italy when he assured us that we going to hear about this report about the Ley report and the violation of using Us weapons but we haven’t heard about it some just wanted an assurance from you that actually Ser I spent about 50% of the Daily Press briefing yesterday talking about it so would take issue with with with how you laid that out um there are absolutely we hold uh Israel uh to the same standard that we hold any country with uh and that is with um in Gaza outside of Gaza anywhere international law international humanitarian law needs to be followed and it needs to be abided by and when we find violations or when we find issues that are concerning not only do we raise them with the Israeli government we will take appropriate actions consistent with the systems and tools that we have uh in the United States um to take appropriate actions I spent a great deal of yesterday talking about the Ley process in which we found um five violations of uh gross violations of human rights um so when we see issues uh we will not hesitate to take appropriate action there is no different standard or different set of rules uh when it comes to any country uh on which we have a relationship okay just one final clarification the secretary said that the offer they give to Hamas is generous um who decide what is generosity is it the United States and Israel what does it is it Arab Partners in the Saudi Summit that they decide is generous I mean I guess my question how do you defy what is generous so Nadia over the course of this conflict we have seen uh Hamas uh move the gold poost um uh reneg on uh agreements that they have made uh as it as relates to part of this deal um and so the secretary was simply underlining the fact that uh we are in this position in which um Hamas has a generous offer on the table uh and it’s imperative for them to move and to act on it as swiftly as possible Olivia go ahead yeah just one point of clarification on Ley which I know you um amply addressed yesterday but you mentioned yesterday that the process was open-ended right it was subject to theou that exists between the is between the Israeli government and the United States this new information that Israel has provided with regard to the fifth unit is can it continuously Supply new information with regard to that unit until the US sort of adjudicates in a particular direction or is this a finite set of information on Whose basis the US will decide whether to take punitive I would say the information is uh uh is is is definitive and it is uh more that consistent with the memorandum of understanding that we have um we are bound by that to consult and engage uh with officials in Israel um on the process on um steps that they uh may or may not uh be taking uh and we are assessing all of those things uh to ensure that um they are in standard with what is laid out in the Ley law and if not as I heard said yesterday there will of course be a resistance of applicable a a restriction on applicable us assistance and then a separate question on Aid yeah um the secretary from Jordan earlier mentioned the opening of new Crossings into Northern Gaza I was hoping you could just update us on the overall metrics on the volume of Aid that’s going in and how that compares to what the US believes is necessary so look uh we are are still very much in the same place that we were when David saterfield came and talked to you well we have seen some uh measurable steps in the right direction uh Northern Crossings uh including arz and uh zakim are preparing to reopen um we are um seeing that uh routes from uh Jordan and ashdod are showing progress uh but not fully yet realized uh and so Southern Crossing specifically Kum Shalom uh and Rafa have seen um some fluctuating uh numbers of trucks but trending in the right direction this is all to say that uh we still need to see more uh and some metrics that I can offer is that um April 25 on April 25th uh approximately 303 trucks entered Gaza according to the UN 282 trucks via Kum Shalom and 21 trucks uh via Rafa um that is not nearly enough but it is a step in the right direction we want to continue to see more and I know also we spend a lot of time up here talking about uh trucks and their inflows and outflows uh possibly because it might be the most digestible uh metric out there it is when they talking about this issue but ultimately when we talk about humanitarian Aid um it is great to see uh trucks enter Gaza it is even better when the humanitarian Aid that enters Gaza is getting to the Palestinian people to Palestinian civilians who need it and we will continue to work closely with the government of Egypt government of Jordan government of Israel and relevant NGO Partners including the United Nations uh to ensure that that final step is happening and it’s getting to the places it needs to go um go ahead I’ve asked several times about um uh the right to defend oneself for Palestinians um and out of this room we’ve heard that the US does not exhibit any double double standards and today in the West Bank there were uh the Israeli occupation forces uh chased beat uh and and threw off a roof a 32 year-old man Palestinian man Hassan Mania uh near in the Hebron District um also um the Israeli forces uh attacked at least two schools with tear gas um two inside and outside schools in the Hebron and uh Janine districts uh where students were and teachers and you know some of them experienced some Suffocation um you know since October 7th we’ve I mean we’ve had like what is it 95 minors that have been killed in the West Bank I asked before do Palestinians have a right to defend themselves I’m not talking about Rogue individuals I’m talking about as far as a legal uh authority to defend Palestinians do they does the State Department view that Palestinians have a right and duty to defend themselves so look I have not seen uh those reports that you outlined I’m happy to to look into them and I have no doubt our uh Partners in the uh IDF may be able to to share more what I can say is that actions like these um if true uh they are destabilizing uh they uh contribute contribute to a deteriorating security situation uh and they are not in the interest of Israel’s uh own security um and when we have seen actions like this when we see actions from uh we believe quite strongly that these kinds of activities take us away uh from a two-state solution and they feed into further instability okay but does does does the Palestinian Authority have the right to defend its citizens absolutely it does absolutely it does go ahead follow up on the campus protest question you know the US government everybody from President Biden on down to here at the podium has been quick to call out anti-Semitism at these protests but there’s also been enormous number of examples of islamophobia and racism from counter protesters why doesn’t the administration denounced that as well and would that here I did you can check the transcript I did well uh and let me ask you about uh netanyahu’s the news on Netanyahu today M uh where he said that even if there’s a hostage deal they’re still going you got to be on time you got to come to the briefing on time that too come on man uh go ahead thank you thank you um today photos of pair in Gaza were published uh my question will the Palestinian Authority PA be the one who will control this Paar sorry the the port uhhuh today I there is photos of this port published uh I wonder if the pa the Palestinian Authority will control this port in Gaza uh I do not believe that the Palestinian Authority has a role in um the the maritime Corridor but I am um happy to defer you to my colleagues at the defense department usaid to speak to this process in a little bit more specificity don’t just don’t you think this port will build over the Palestinian territories and uh should Palestinian people have the authority of uh this so broadly when we were talking about the future of Gaza and the future of a two-state solution and ensuring that Gaza is no longer a Launchpad for uh terrorism against the Israeli people uh part of that for us of course includes a uh Gaza that is reunited under the Palestinian Authority but as it relates to this uh Maritime Corridor um um I I do not believe that they have a specific role uh but that being said my colleagues at uh the Pentagon and usid made may be in a better place to speak to some of the more logistical components of this go ahead in the back thank you um I just wanted to ask about the ARs border crossing um it’s obviously reopening in the north weeks after post’s call with Netanyahu what should we read into the timing of this opening considering that linkoln is now there to request more Aid and also this ceasefire deal hangs in the balance I would not read anything into the the timing of this Beyond uh us just stressing again that all of these things uh need to happen as swiftly as possible but we also fully understand that um there may be steps that need to be taken in when factoring in vetting safety uh other things uh as it relates to Crossings that are used for the inflow of Aid uh we are not naive to the fact that this is a process but look we have uh been clear that we need uh this to happen as swiftly as possible and I just want to um touch on some of the other questions as well was it the US’s aim to try to beat the clock on a rougher Invasion by getting this ceasefire deal in Place beforehand and if so have netanyahu’s comments this morning altered that at all it’s not about beating any clock we if you go back and look at the history and trajectory of this conflict um there have been a number of instances in which we have uh been hoping encouraging uh working tirelessly uh for a deal that would release the hostages that we hope would be uh uh partnered with some kind of uh ceasefire that has been our position for quite some time and simultaneously as it relates to Rafa it has also been our position for quite some time that any kind of operation that does not address the sort of various components of humanitarian concern that we have uh would be uh unacceptable uh to us thank you yeah uh go ahead in the back thank you so much any comment on John bu trip to Doha and Islamabad was the meeting with Taliban official in his schedule so uh uh as you so noted uh acting under secretary uh for political Affairs John bass is on travel to uh Doha and Islamabad um in Doha he’ll meet with senior Cuttery officials and other diplomatic uh missions to discuss support for Afghanistan and other shared security interests in the region and in Islam Abad uh we expect him to meet with senior Pakistani officials and discuss a range of regional and bilateral issues as well go ahead next yeah thank you uh I know State Department already talked about the C orin’s local elections some time ago as is been scheduled for June 10 so now there’s a discussion that should be postponed for at least uh three months so what’s your comment so we understand that President uh barzani and various Iraqi authorities um and other political parties are actively considering next steps uh from our point of view we would encourage them to schedule free fair and timely elections uh and we hope that process takes place but I don’t have anything to offer be on that g go ahead thank you for that I have two questions on two separate topics great um at the White House correspondence dinner on Saturday the president called on Putin to release rferl uh Journal was also Keva I was wondering if um if the state department is following up her case uh into seeing whether she’s been uh she can be C uh identified as wrongfully detained so first let me just say we have no higher priority than the Safety and Security of US citizens overseas and in the case of alsu Keva we remain deeply concerned about her detention in Russia and to um Echo the president uh we believe she should be uh released and we condemn in the strongest possible terms the kremlin’s continued attempts to intimidate uh repress and punish journalists and other civil society actors uh in terms of a wrongful detention design uh I’m just not going to get ahead of our process there is a uh deliberative and fact- driven process underway that process uh continues to be uh ongoing and we constantly review uh circumstances uh surrounding detentions of us Nationals so I don’t have anything to to offer there how often can you tell us how often you may R Cas I am not going to speak to the specifics of this process okay another one um on borina Faso Voice of America and BBC have been banned there I was wondering if the state department is doing anything in that regard so uh we are very alarmed that Burkina faso’s Superior Council of communications has suspended multiple uh independent Outlets including Voice of America and BBC uh for covering uh the Human Rights Watch report about uh some recent massacres you’ve heard the secretary say including from this very Podium that far too many governments uh use repression to silence uh free expression particularly L against journalists and media organizations for simply doing their jobs uh freedom of expression particularly for media is critical for accountable and transparent uh governance go ahead Alex go ahead Alex journalism you don’t you’re interrupting your colleague this is my third time you not giving chance I’m happy to come to you I’m happy to come to you after Alex go ahead thanks so much keep this clear up either validate or kill alive some of the reports uh claiming that the US has eased some of the sanctions on Russian Banks including Central Bank to allow some energy related operations why I’m not sure what reports you’re referring to Alex uh what I can just say broadly though is that when it comes to uh our efforts to hold the Russian Federation accountable for its infringement on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our Ukrainian Partners uh we have not uh taken our foot off the gas going back to February of 2022 since this Invasion occurred and we will continue to take steps uh both to continue to support our Ukrainian Partners but also through sanctions export controls and other measures hold the Russian Federation accountable so there’s no shift at all there is no policy shift at all thank you on Poland Poland today handed official request to the United States to host nuclear weapons in Poland do you have any reaction uh I don’t have any comment for you on that I’m sure my colleagues at the Pentagon can speak to that greater sure thank and final topic on Army aan spoke with both leaders over the weekend any reason to why you know he called this any like Intel or any concern that he want to convey and separately on aaban on human rights portion of the you know discussion was about human rights but hours after that call aan arrested another civil society leader so how much is it the reflection of functional relationship so uh first let me just say Alex that should come no to no surprise to you that this is uh an area of the world that the secretary him self is personally deeply engaged on um and over the course of his time as secretary he has had regular engagements um at regular intervals with both of these countries and our engagements with both of them are ongoing um and we continue to believe that a uh uh uh a piece and uh is possible here and that’s something that we’re going to continue to work towards on the second question that you raised we are deeply uh troubled by the continuing arrests of uh members of aarani civil Society most recently Anar M madali and we urge the aerb johani government to immediately release all individuals who are unjustly detained julil go ahead thank you very much Mr thank you very much State Department for bearing with these nine years uh just one question and then if you allow me I’ll ask another question how do you feel uh when journalists here are friends with same Podium people from the US since last two decades and you guys this Administration since last two years if a journalist doesn’t agree with you you just ignore them I mean this is the beauty of this news room this is the beauty of this press room why you guys like you guys not feel bad to be treating somebody like this like what’s the reason I’m sorry who are we treating in what way talking about this this gentleman right here since last two years did something happen to you sir I feel very ignored I asked one question and you pass me you got don’t get first of all uh it is never a guarantee that everyone gets a question every day uh we try our best to get to everybody but sometimes we’re dealing with uh the the confines of time and I will just say Jal in my time up here and Matt’s time and Ned’s time we have taken questions from you pretty regularly yeah I don’t agree but I just have question about you just used your one question so I’m going to move I’m going to move on now go ahead I had a follow-up question on C expansionism under secretary is going there the region has terrorism going on question J half of Afghanistan is under no education for girls the under secretary is going how do you feel talking to a nation where terrorism is once again growing up today in Kabal six people were killed every week there is Terrorism why is the under secretary holding talks with the Taliban if the girls do not have education and what’s your interest there so let me just say a couple things first I I I will just since you’ve gotten us way off topic if you have a question you should ask a question not waste your colleagues time about uh other things secondly um I’m not aware of any travel to uh Afghanistan uh by any under secretary but let me just say that when it comes to our engagements with uh uh the Taliban we engage when it is in the United States interest to do so this is the best way to not just protect us National interest uh but also support the Afghan people engagement allows us to speak directly with the Taliban and it’s an opportunity for us to continue to press for the immediate and unconditional release of us Nationals in Afghanistan including those we have determined to be wrongfully detained we’ll also use those opportunities to directly talk about the taliban’s commitments to counter terrorism and of course as always human rights is also on the agenda thank you thank you very much quick one do you have anything on uh the talks between turkey and the US uh US Energy firm Exon Mobile a Turkish energy Minister said that they are interested in diversifying turkey’s uh National National national gas supplies uh what is your comment on this and was this uh you know a topic of discussion between the two countries so I I don’t have any more specifics to offer as it relates to the secretary’s engagement with foreign minister fedon but let me just say I I’ve seen those public reports um and I’m not going to offer anything additional on potential commercial neg associations but uh from our vantage point we would encourage uh any country to diversify its energy Supply and curb uh dependence on Russian energy and to to just broaden the aperture a little bit uh turkey has played a very important role uh as the host of the Southern gas Corridor in helping diversify you European energy uh supplies and European gas supplies away from dependence on Russia and as the host of multiple LG liquefication facilities um which have received a lot of American LG since the beginning of Russia’s full scale invasion in Ukraine can I have a quick one on my the list sure uh do you have any comment on the Hamas and fat leaders meeting in Beijing at the imitation of China what what is your comment on dialogue between so our our our our message on this has been um what it was since uh October 7th uh if any country reports to have um uh influence uh or relationship ships with Hamas uh the message is quite clear um release every single hostage and uh it can no longer be uh business as usual uh they should call on Hamas to lay down their arms um and that is the best and fastest way uh to get us where we need to be talk go ahead so the um of Japanese Nationals by North Korea met SK this morning do you have any detail about the meeting who met the families and how did this c meeting so I’m happy to um check if there’s um any specific officials that we can share but the US stands with the longsuffering relatives of Japanese abductees and we continue to urge the dprk to write this historic wrong and provide full accounting of those that remain missing and we don’t have any other meetings on this to to announce at this time I I I’m happy to check some more specifics but I don’t have anything for you that go ahead Dr thank you V you you talked about the cown region elction but I need a clarifion on that what do you mean when you say that you encourage them to schedule a free and fair election because it’s already been scheduled for June 10th does the US support rescheduling that election our understanding is that uh president barzani and various other authorities are uh actively considering next steps and we will let that process play out before uh commenting do you support rescheduling this election that’s not for uh for us to decide what we would encourage is for uh these elections uh to be scheduled and for them to be free fair and credible but beyond that our understanding is that President barzani and various other entities are uh actively discussing additional next steps go ahead sir Pakistani ambassador in Washington DC Sardar mud Khan recently talk about the importance of Pakistan US security Corporation and the need to Blaser Pakistan’s defense capabilities due to Regional challenges uh do you have any something uh to tell us what kind of strategies or initiatives both the countries are working out to enhance security cooperation yeah so the United States and Pakistan have a shared interest in um combating threats to Regional security and we support Pakistan’s efforts to combat terrorism and ensure the safety and security of its citizens in a manner that promotes the rule of law and uh protection of human rights our partnership with Pakistan on security issues includes of course a high level counterterrorism dialogue um funding robust counterterrorism capacity and building programs and supporting a series of us and Pakistan military to military engagement The Washington Post latest article revealed that Indian Prime Minister moodi Inner Circle including spy Chief sumon Goyle and even the National Security advisor were aware of the assassination plot on a sick activist in New York so how concerning is this for you so we continue to expect uh accountability from the government of India based on the results of the Indian uh inquiry committee’s work and we are regularly uh working with them and inquiring for additional updates we’ll also continue to raise our concerns directly with the Indian government at senior levels uh but beyond that I’m not going to uh parse into this further and we’ll defer to the Department of Justice Julia go ahead on Sudan I want to uh follow up on the UN Ambassador uh Thomas Greenfield’s comments calling it a the potential for a large scale Massacre um and she also said that the US is appealing to countries including the UAE to stop support for the Waring parties um have has any progress been made with the UAE and other countries and what is the US doing to try to prevent this catastrophe so um to put it bluntly as Ambassador Thomas Greenfield said yesterday this we certainly do not view this as uh conjecture and we are seeing the possibility of History uh repeating itself in Dar for in the worst possible way there are credible reports that the rsf and its Allied militias have raised multiple V Villages west of el faser and are planning an emminent attack on elaser putting 500,000 internally displaced persons at risk on top of the 2 million sudon who call Al faser home um we also know as the Ambassador said that both sides are receiving weapons and other support to fuel their efforts and we’ve directly raised our concerns uh about reports of UAP support to the rsf with our Emir partners and we have made clear that the provision of arms to either side only deepens and uh prolongs the conflict um go ahead daany and then we’re going to wrap thank you everybody’s uh that’s not what I said I said I would get to as many people as I i’ I said I’d get to as many as I can go ahead deie uh the Philippines today said a Coast Guard ship and a Fisheries vessel were damaged by water cannons used by Chinese Coast Guard ships this comes uh right after blinken’s trip to China do you have any comments on this so the repeated harassment of Philippine vessels near Scarboro reach um is detrimental to Regional peace and stability and our belief is that the Chinese coast guard installation of these uh barriers also endangers uh Philippine uh Fisher folks livelihood and prevents them from exercising their legal rights to fish in those Waters these are rights that were set out in 2016 uh in a final and legally binding judgment in the uh Philippines China arbitration brought to uh the 1982 law of the sea convention uh and consistently and this is something that the secretary made clear on his travels as well is that we urge the PRC to uh respect the navigational rights and freedoms guaranteed to all states under international law all right thanks everybody thank you thank you e e

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