WASHINGTON - Secretary of State John F. Kerry strongly criticized Palestinian leaders on Sunday for rejecting a cease-fire plan, but he also appeared - in comments captured by a live microphone - to express exasperation with the high cost in civilian lives as Israel pressed its ground attack on Gaza.
Mr. Kerry, who is expected to leave for the region imminently, was at the start of a scheduled sweep of the five major network television programs when, during a break in one of them, 'Fox News Sunday,' he spoke by cellphone to an unidentified aide, according to Fox.
Chris Wallace, the Fox interviewer, confronted Mr. Kerry with a tape of those remarks during his appearance on that channel. In it, Mr. Kerry is heard to say: 'It's a hell of a pinpoint operation. It's a hell of a pinpoint operation. We got to get over there. Thank you, John. I think, John, we ought to go tonight. I think it's crazy to be sitting around.'
The aide was later identified as Jonathan Finer, Mr. Kerry's deputy chief of staff, who accompanies him on his trips.
The comments were without context, but Mr. Wallace's questioning and Mr. Kerry's reply seemed to make clear that the secretary was speaking ironically about a 'pinpoint operation' to express that he was disturbed by the deaths of Palestinian civilians, including many children, in an operation aimed at the militant extremists who have been smuggling arms into Gaza and raining rockets on Israel.
Asked if he was 'upset that the Israelis are going too far,' Mr. Kerry replied: 'It's very difficult in these situations. I reacted, obviously, in a way that anybody does in respect to young children and civilians.'
But on that program and the others, Mr. Kerry vociferously defended Israel's right to take action, including efforts to destroy some of the hundreds of tunnels used by Hamas to smuggle arms and fighters.
'We defend Israel's right to do what it is doing in order to get at those tunnels,' he said on Fox, and he called Palestinian leaders 'intransigent' for turning down a cease-fire plan put forth last week by Egypt. Since Israel did accept that proposal, he added, 'it is important for Hamas to now step up and be reasonable and understand that you accept the cease-fire, you save lives, and that's the way we can proceed.'
In another appearance, on the CNN program 'State of the Union,' Mr. Kerry said he would leave soon for the Middle East to meet with Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, to try to hammer out a cease-fire.
'I believe the president is asking me to go over there in very short order to work on the issue of a cease-fire,' Mr. Kerry said.
Mr. Kerry also said in his television appearances that Hamas fighters who have used tunnels to try to sneak into Israel were carrying tranquilizer drugs and handcuffs, hoping to capture Israeli citizens and take them to Gaza as hostages.
While the Obama administration has defended Israel's right to act against Hamas, it suggested last week that the Israeli ground attack be limited to closing the tunnels.
In a phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, Mr. Kerry urged that the Israeli ground intervention 'be a precise operation to target tunnels, as described in a statement from the Israeli Defense Forces,' the State Department said in a statement.
'The secretary emphasized the need to avoid further escalation and to restore the 2012 cease-fire as soon as possible, reinforced our continuing commitment to the Egyptian initiative as the way to do so, and underscored the importance of Hamas accepting this plan as soon as possible,' the State Department added.
President Obama made similar comments last week.
'Although we support military efforts by the Israelis to make sure that rockets are not being fired into their territory,' Mr. Obama said, 'we also have said that our understanding is the current military ground operations are designed to deal with the tunnels, and we are hopeful that Israel will continue to approach this process in a way that minimizes civilian casualties and that all of us are working hard to return to the cease-fire that was reached in November of 2012.'
Entities 0 Name: Kerry Count: 11 1 Name: Israel Count: 9 2 Name: Hamas Count: 5 3 Name: Israeli Count: 4 4 Name: Palestinian Count: 3 5 Name: Fox Count: 3 6 Name: Gaza Count: 3 7 Name: Obama Count: 3 8 Name: State Department Count: 2 9 Name: John Count: 2 10 Name: United Nations Count: 1 11 Name: Chris Wallace Count: 1 12 Name: Wallace Count: 1 13 Name: Egypt Count: 1 14 Name: WASHINGTON Count: 1 15 Name: Jonathan Finer Count: 1 16 Name: Middle East Count: 1 17 Name: CNN Count: 1 18 Name: John F. Kerry Count: 1 19 Name: Benjamin Netanyahu Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1liFEKy Title: John Kerry's Hot Mic Reaction To Gaza: 'Hell Of A Pinpoint Operation' Description: Posted: Print Article WASHINGTON -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sounded exasperated during a candid moment between interviews on Sunday as he discussed the ongoing conflict in Gaza with an off-camera aide, apparently unaware he was still being recorded. "It's a hell of a pinpoint operation.
