During a Sunday appearance on MSNBC IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus challenged anchor Yasmin Vossoughian on the dangers of trusting the narrative coming from Gaza officials.
“I know on Oct 7th there were many women and children that were killed in Israel. There are images emerging from Gaza now, the death toll seemingly like it’s above 4,600, many of them women and children who have lost their lives because, um, as Israeli rocket fire. How do you explain that?” Vossoughian asked Conricus.
“I don’t want to create any parity,” Conricus responded. “You know, any human suffering is suffering, whether it’s ours or theirs. The only thing I can say is that we definitely do not target civilians. We try to strike militants, contrary to these sub-human terrorists, these ISIS monsters who came across our borders. They specifically targeted our women and children and elderly and men and soldiers, but specifically the civilians.”
Conricus continued.
“You know out of 1,300, more than 1,300 dead Israelis, more than a thousand were civilians, which is, and that is by design. So, we are not targeting the civilians. Unfortunately, the civilians are in the battle space. We are doing our best to get them out of harm’s way. We’ve called on them to evacuate.”
“And I just want to say one thing when it comes to data coming out of Gaza. Please keep in mind that everything that comes out of Gaza is not verified independently. It is information decimated by Hamas and that Hamas are the equivalent of ISIS when it comes to truthfulness,” Conricus said.
Vossoughian pushed back on Conricus.
“Sir, Colonel, are you disputing the number of people that have been killed in Gaza? The number of women and children. Are you disputing that, are you saying that’s not accurate?”
“I am definitely questioning each and every piece of information that comes out of the Hamas-controlled so-called Ministry of Health. Each and every piece of information, and I’ll give you an example,” Conricus said before being interrupted.
“But many of these, Colonel, are being reported by independent journalists that are in the region as well,” Vossoghian said.
Conricus then cites the reporting on the hospital explosion as a prime example of Hamas disinformation.
Watch the clips below:
MSNBC's @yasminv tries to draw a false parity between Israel and Hamas, falsely suggesting Israel is using indiscriminate "rocket fire" to hit women and children like Hamas.
IDF spox @jconricus sets her straight, noting that Hamas targets civilians, while the IDF works to warn. pic.twitter.com/xHO5LiVMdo— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) October 23, 2023
In a follow-up, @yasminv scoffs at the idea that the IDF is trying to follow the laws of war.
She gets triggered when @jconricus calls into question the fake casualty numbers put out by Hamas.
He also calls out MSNBC for parroting Hamas's lies about the hospital blast. pic.twitter.com/u14cXQynbz— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) October 23, 2023
