US says Israel cannot erase Hamas from existence

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said it was an “attainable goal” for Israel to knock out the military threat posed by Hamas but it could probably not “erase the group from existence”.

“Are you going to eliminate the ideology? No. And are you likely going to erase the group from existence? Probably not,” Kirby added.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stressed that Israel would not agree to a cessation of hostilities with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and would press ahead with its plans to wipe out the group.

US President Joe Biden’s administration has also rejected genocide allegations against Tel Aviv by multiple nations, insisting that Washington sees no indication that Israeli soldiers are committing such acts as they pound Gaza in a campaign to destroy Hamas.

South Africa’s government filed a genocide case against Israel last week in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and NATO member Turkey announced its official support for the charge on Wednesday. US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller denounced the allegations at a press briefing later on Wednesday, stating there was no indication that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were committing genocide against the Palestinians.

“Genocide is of course a heinous atrocity, one of the most heinous atrocities that any individual can commit,” Miller said, adding, “Those are allegations that should not be made lightly, and as it pertains to the United States, we are not seeing any acts that constitute genocide.”

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was more pointed in his response, saying the allegations against Israel were “meritless”. He added that the ICJ case filed by South Africa was “counterproductive and completely without any basis in fact whatsoever”.

The ICJ will hold public hearings next week on South Africa’s allegation that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza. According to a press release, the hearings are set to be held on Thursday, 11 January, and Friday, 12 January.

More than 22,000 Palestinians have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7, according to Gaza health authorities. The UN warned last month that more than 500,000 Gazans were starving amid the Israeli bombardment, and 85% of the population had been displaced. The conflict began when Hamas fighters launched surprise attacks against villages in southern Israel, killing more than 1,100 people, including nearly 700 Israeli citizens, and taking hundreds of hostages back to Gaza.