CAIR demands apology after Biden dismisses Hamas-provided casualty numbers in Gaza

CAIR demands apology after Biden dismisses Hamas-provided casualty numbers in Gaza

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned President Biden for stating that he has "no confidence" in Hamas-provided data on casualties in Gaza on Wednesday.

CAIR wrote that it is "deeply disturbed and shocked" by Biden's comments, made during a press briefing at the White House on Wednesday. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry claims that more than 6,500 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's war on Hamas since October 7.

"The Israeli government has openly admitted that it is targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. Journalists have confirmed the high number of casualties, and countless videos coming out of Gaza every day show mangled bodies of Palestinian women and children – and entire city blocks leveled to the ground. President Biden should watch some of these videos and ask himself if the crushed children being dragged out of the ruins of their family homes are a fabrication or an acceptable price of war. They are neither," CAIR wrote in a statement.

On Wednesday, a reporter asked Bioden whether Hamas' statistics suggest that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ignoring U.S. calls to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza.

"What they say to me is that I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed," Biden responded. "I'm sure innocents have been killed, and it's a price of waging a war."

"I think we should be incredibly careful – not we – the Israelis should be incredibly careful to be sure that they're focusing on going after the folks that are propagating this war against Israel. It's against their interests when that doesn't happen, but I have no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using," he added.