John Kirby on the Shejaiya hostages: "a tragic, heartbreaking event"
John KirbyNational Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, United States
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on the Israeli hostages mistakenly killed by the IDF, NBC News, Dec. 15, 2023.
Excerpt from 0:35 to 1:10 of the NBC News video. DI added its logo in the corner.
Video: NBC News. Excerpt used for news reporting and commentary
Watch the full original video (opens in a new tab) (relevant passage: 00:38 to 01:07)
White House spokesman John Kirby called the IDF's shooting of three hostages in Shejaiya tragic and heartbreaking and said the United States would leave it to Israel to address the details.
“It's difficult to know with any great detail exactly how this happened. Even the Israelis have said publicly that they don't have all the details to flesh it out. I'm sure that they'll do the forensics here, Kristen, and try to figure out exactly what happened, learn lessons from it so it can't happen again. But it's just a tragic, heartbreaking event.”
Original video
Where this statement fits
Did Israeli forces kill Israelis under the Hannibal Directive on October 7?
On October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attackers struck southern Israel. About 1,200 people were killed in Israel that day and about 250 were taken hostage into Gaza. In July 2024, Haaretz reported that documents and testimony show the Israeli military used the Hannibal procedure, which directs force to stop soldiers from being taken captive, at three army sites that day. The detailed findings of a UN commission of inquiry say Israeli fire likely killed at least 14 Israeli civilians in two incidents. The IDF has said a helicopter likely killed Efrat Katz of Kibbutz Nir Oz and that tank shrapnel highly likely killed one hostage outside a house in Kibbutz Be'eri, and it has defended the decisions of its commanders. Former defense minister Yoav Gallant said in February 2025 that he thinks an order to apply the procedure was given tactically in some places and not in others. The dispute is over whether, and how often, Israeli forces fired on Israeli captives that day, and how many Israelis that fire killed. The record also covers hostages later killed by Israeli fire in Gaza, including three who were shot in Shejaiya in December 2023 after escaping their captors.
Source and context
Original video
About this source
NBC News interview of John Kirby by Kristen Welker on the day the IDF said its soldiers shot three hostages in Shejaiya.
Watch the clip from this source at the top of the page.
Before the quotation
Kristen Welker asked what Kirby could say about how the shooting could have happened and how the Israeli government was responding.
After the quotation
He added: "And we'll just have to leave it to the Israelis to speak to the details of this."
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is Israeli fire that put Israeli captives at risk of being killed by Israeli forces, on October 7, 2023 and, for hostages later held in Gaza, during Israel's military operations there. Kirby expresses sorrow but declines to assess the shooting and defers to Israel's investigation. The closest competing label is Mixed or conditional, but he offers no evaluation to weigh, only a redirect.
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More from this case
Read the full casePolitiFact says it has not revisited related claims and its Nova video rating stands
PolitiFact
“We have not gone back and looked at related claims, and the rating stands.”Read statement
IDF points to its published October 7 investigations and declines further comment
Israel Defense Forces
“The IDF has published investigations concerning its conduct on October 7th, and beyond that, we will not comment.”Read statement
Michael Starr: under the directive, soldiers fire "at risk to friendlies, not at friendlies"
“The directive is a removal of safeties that come with the use of live fire, as Americans may be familiar with danger close mortar or artillery strikes. Fire is directed at hostiles, not at hostages, but the safety protocols are essentially removed. You are shooting at risk to friendlies, not at friendlies.”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "John Kirby on the Shejaiya hostages: "a tragic, heartbreaking event"". First published: 2026-10-07. Last updated: 2026-10-07. https://disputeindex.com/events/5151-white-house-spokesman-john-kirby-called-the-idf