US Muslim group slams White House's 'no red line' policy amid civilian casualties in Gaza

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) – The US-based Muslim advocacy group the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) strongly criticized the White House on Wednesday over its "no red line" stance concerning Israel amid ongoing civilian casualties in Gaza due to Israeli airstrikes.

CAIR "strongly condemned White House representative John Kirby for once again declaring there are no 'red lines’ or number of civilians the Israeli government can kill that would cause the US to stop supporting (Israeli Prime Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu’s genocidal attacks on civilians in Gaza," said the group in a statement.

Its statement referenced recent comments by Kirby, the National Security Council spokesperson, who, when asked "is it still the case the administration has no red lines at all" regarding the Israeli operations in Gaza, confirmed "that is still the case."

Robert McCaw, CAIR's government affairs director, said every such declaration without "red lines" emboldens the Israeli government to escalate their military actions against civilian targets such as refugee camps, apartment buildings, bakeries, ambulances and places of worship.

"We call on Admiral Kirby—who nearly shed tears when speaking about Ukrainian civilians–to recognize that Palestinians are human beings too, and we call on the White House to end our nation’s complicity in Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing attempt at genocide," said McCaw.

He said Israel "is committing war crimes" with American taxpayer dollars and US support.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian resistance group Hamas initiated a cross-border attack on Oct. 7.​​​​​​​

At least 10,569 Palestinians, including 4,324 children and 2,823 women, have been killed.

The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is nearly 1,600, according to official figures.