Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie pushed back over the weekend on claims from the United Nations that Israel was committing war crimes inside Gaza.
Christie, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, made the remarks during a Sunday interview with Kristen Welker on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” while discussing his recent trip to Israel.
“The UN human rights chief has said that Israel is, quote, ‘committing war crimes in Gaza’,” Welker said. “Based on what you learned on your trip, do you believe that Israel is following international law?”
Christie responded, “Yes, I absolutely do think Israel is following international law, Kristen. And I will tell you, unlike a lot of other people who are expressing opinions about this, I was there and spoke to the leaders in Israel, spoke to the president of Israel, spoke to members of the Israeli Defense Forces. I was 600 yards from the Gaza border. I went everywhere in Israel to see what’s going on, and they are doing everything they can to avoid civilian casualties.”
“The problem is that Hamas is forcing these civilians to stay in places where Israel is warning them out of, dropping thousands of leaflets, sending hundreds of thousands of text messages to warn people away from areas before they’re attacked,” he continued. “It is Hamas that’s doing this. And let us not forget, for those who are advocating for a cease-fire, there was a cease-fire on October 6th, and it was Hamas that broke it on October 7th. And I will tell you, I saw the 43-minute video that’s been put together by the Israeli government from raw footage from not only Israeli sources but from body cams and dash cams from the Hamas terrorists.”
“What they did on October 7th was the greatest violation of international law and the greatest violation of humanity,” he concluded. “And the worst part, Kristen, they did it with joy. We had one young man who called back to his family in Hamas in a cell phone call that was interrupted and said, “Mom, I just killed ten Jews with my bare hands. Your son is a hero.” And his parents cheered him.”
WATCH:
WATCH: “I absolutely” believe that Israel is following international law, says GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie.@GovChristie: “They are doing everything they can to avoid civilian casualties.” pic.twitter.com/dY9fkcBmkN
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) November 19, 2023