Biden says he is sure civilians killed in Israeli strikes, disputes official toll given by Gaza

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he is sure Israeli strikes in the besieged Gaza Strip have resulted in civilian casualties, but sought to cast doubt on the official toll from Gaza's Health Ministry.

"I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. I'm sure innocents have been killed," Biden said in response to a question about the civilian death toll in the more than two weeks since Israel began its bombardment of the coastal enclave.

"It's the price of waging a war," he said. "I think the Israelis should be incredibly careful to be sure that they're focusing on going after the folks that are propagating this war against Israel. And it's against their interests when that doesn't happen. But I have no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using," he added.

The comments come one day after a spokesperson for Biden's National Security Council offered a similar assessment of Gaza’s Health Ministry data due to its control by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.