CNN Anchor Confronts Israeli Spokesman: ‘The World is Not Okay’ With 18,000 Killed in Gaza

The number of people killed inside Gaza has reportedly topped 18,000, and Israeli spokesman Mark Regev was forced to reckon with the fact that “the world is not okay” with that number.

CNN anchor Boris Sanchez confronted Regev with the number of civilian deaths that are reportedly mostly made up of women and children.

“So, on the question of [Joe] Biden suggesting that Israel is losing global support, does that influence the thinking of the Israeli government in any way?” Sanchez asked. “I think it’s become clear, given what the U.N. Security Council tried to push forward this weekend that the U.S. blocked, that the world is not okay with the 18,000-plus people that have been reported killed, many of them women and children in Gaza. Does this, in any way, alter what Israel is trying to accomplish or at least the way it approaches its war with Hamas?”

Regev began his answer by lashing out at the United Nations.

“Well, first of all, the U.N. is a strange place, and there’s an automatic, as you know, Boris, there’s an automatic anti-Israel majority there at the United Nations.” He continued:

And we thank the United States. We’re very appreciative of their veto, that we had America’s diplomatic protection. It’s appreciated here in Israel.

But as we move forward in this, it’s crucial that we win this war. It’s crucial that we defeat Hamas. In doing so, in parallel, we have to do everything we can to safeguard Gazan civilians, and we have to do everything we can to make sure they get the aid that they need. But that war needs to be won. For Israel, there is no choice. We have to defeat Hamas.

Earlier in the interview, Regev said Israel had no interest in reoccupying Gaza.

“Obviously in the initial post-war period, we’re going to have overriding security control, because we can’t see a resurgent terrorist element come and take away all the benefits that the war will bring,” Regev said. “Because we want to see, as I say, a de-militarized and de-radicalized Gaza Strip. That’s good for Israel; that’s ultimately good for the Gazans who’ve had a Hamas government for the last 16 years and it’s only brought them hardship, misery, and poverty. They, too, deserve better.”

Watch the clip above via CNN.