John Kirby Riled by Doocy Asking If Israel Could Still ‘Shoot Back’ In ‘Humanitarian Pauses’ In Gaza: ‘My Goodness, Peter!’

Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy and Biden National Security spokesman John Kirby tangled on the topic of whether the administration favoring “diplomatic pauses” meant Israel would not be able to defend itself against Hamas.

The White House press briefing ramped up on Thursday when Doocy pressed Kirby over President Joe Biden’s diplomacy with Qatar amid U.S. efforts to free Americans being held in captivity. The questioning eventually turned to the administration’s new push for a humanitarian “pause” in Israel. The goal being to send in aid for civilians in the Gaza Strip while giving trapped foreign nationals a chance to leave.

Biden expressed support for a pause during a campaign speech when a protester beseeched him to call for a ceasefire. Kirby has repeatedly argued against the idea of a ceasefire, though The New York Times notes that White House officials have insisted that a humanitarian pause would be different and more temporary than a complete ceasefire.

Doocy and Kirby went off on this as the former said, “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 a right to defend themselves,” Kirby countered.

“So a pause means they can still shoot back?” Doocy asked.

“My goodness, Peter, we’re giving them security assistance almost every day,” Kirby said in exasperation. “But 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 cease fire.”

“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, localized way,” Kirby continued. “I would also expect that we would get a lot of criticism from you and and from your network and others if we just eschewed the whole idea of some sort of temporary pause so that people couldn’t get out.”

“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,” Kirby explained. “It’s a good thing for the Americans held hostage, and it’s not going to stop Israel from defending itself.”

DOOCY: 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?

KIRBY: We have been crystal clear that Israel has a right to defend themselves. I mean, my goodness.

DOOCY: So pause means they can still shoot back?

KIRBY: My goodness, Peter, we’re giving them security assistance almost every day. But 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 cease fire. Does it? Right, hold on a second.

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, localized way. I would also expect that we would get a lot of criticism from you and and from your network and others if we just eschewed the whole idea of some sort of temporary pause so that people couldn’t get out.

I mean, we’re doing exactly what you should be doing to try to look after these folks.

DOOCY: So a pause does not help Hamas?

KIRBY: 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. It’s a good thing for the Americans that are being held hostage. And it’s not going to stop Israel from defending itself. Because the security assistance we’re providing continues to flow.

And a temporary pause doesn’t mean a general cease fire when the war is over. It means a pause, only temporary for a specific purpose.

Watch the clip above via The White House.