Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy sparred with White House national security spokesperson John Kirby on Thursday over the administration expressing gratitude to Qatar, the home of Hamas’ leader.
President Joe Biden called Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to thank him for the release of five Americans from Iran through Doha’s mediation, according to Reuters. Doha’s mediation previously negotiated for the release of Americans in Iran and Iranians held in the U.S., plus the transfer of $6 billion in previously frozen Iranian assets to Iran.
“After the release of Americans out of Gaza, President Biden said, ‘I want to thank our partners in the region, and particularly Qatar.’ The leader of Hamas lives in Qatar. So why is President Biden thanking them for anything?” Doocy asked.
“Oh jeez, Peter. Let’s take a step back here and look at this—” Kirby began.
“But they are a terrorist group that killed Americans and kidnapped Americans within the last month,” Doocy interjected.
“Peter, Qatar has been helpful in getting those Americans out. I’m sure you would agree with me and everybody at your network would agree getting American hostages out is a good thing,” Kirby said. “Qatar was a key player in that regard. Qatar has lines of communication with Hamas that almost nobody else has. Now I’m not saying we support Hamas, of course we don’t. They’re a terrorist organization and Israel has an absolute right to go after them. But Qatar has lines of communication that not everybody else has.”
“And it would be irresponsible, in fact, I would expect that you and everybody else in here, would be going after me if we weren’t doing everything we could, and having every possible conversation we can have, to get Americans that are held hostage back home with their families. If we weren’t doing that, it would be diplomatic malpractice,” Kirby continued. (RELATED: Doocy Presses Kirby To Say Whether Antisemitic Protesters Are ‘Domestic Terrorists’)
Doocy accused Kirby of “making things worse” by extending a friendly hand to Qatar. Kirby objected, arguing the U.S. is working with the country to release Americans from Gaza.
“If Qatar is so helpful, why aren’t we asking them to hand over the leader of this terrorist group?” Doocy asked.
“We are working with Qatar to get our people out and to help get aid in. That’s a priority right now and obviously, we’re also helping Israel go after Hamas,” Kirby said.
Doocy then pressed Kirby on the administration’s call for Israel to delay its ground invasion in order to get hostages out of Gaza and provide humanitarian aid to civilians. Kirby said the administration is calling for a pause in a “temporary and localized way” to free Americans and aid civilians.
“And as you push the Israelis for humanitarian pauses, are they just supposed to sit back and let Hamas attack them, and attack them, and attack them and not fight back?”
“We have been crystal clear that Israel has the right to defend themselves, I mean, my goodness—”
“So a pause means they can still shoot back?” Doocy interrupted.
“My goodness, Peter. We’re giving them security assistance almost every day. Do we advocate pauses by both sides here? Temporary, localized, to be able to get Americans out, to be able to get aid in? You betcha we do. That doesn’t mean that we’re calling for a general ceasefire — hold on a sec — there’s a difference. There’s a big difference here. And we understand that, as I said earlier, humanitarian pauses have to be negotiated and you have to have a credible basis for doing it in a temporary and localized way.”
“So a pause does not help Hamas?” Doocy asked.
“A temporary pause that’s localized that would allow us to get aid in, and to get our people out, is a good thing for the people of Gaza, a good thing for the Americans being held hostage, and it’s not gonna stop Israel from defending itself because the security assistance we’re providing continues to flow, and a temporary pause doesn’t mean a general ceasefire or the war’s over, it means pause, only temporary, for a specific purpose.”
Four American hostages have been released by Hamas since the war began.