Miller: Israel without a doubt committed war crimes in Gaza
A former US State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, said Israel without a doubt committed war crimes in Gaza, marking a significant departure from his previous official position during the Biden administration.
I don’t think it’s a genocide, but I think it is, without a doubt true that Israel has committed war crimes, Miller said.
Matthew Miller, who served as State Department spokesman under President Joe Biden, made the comments during an interview with Sky News’ Trump 100 podcast that aired Monday.
Asked directly if there is a genocide in Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 54,000 people since October 2023 and created risk of a famine, Miller said he did not believe it constituted genocide but expressed certainty about war crimes.
The former spokesman acknowledged the constraints of his previous role, explaining he could not express personal opinions from the podium.
When you’re at the podium, you’re not expressing your personal opinion. You’re expressing the conclusions of the United States government, Miller said. He said the US government has not officially concluded Israel committed war crimes.
Miller said it was an open question whether Israel has pursued a policy to deliberately committing war crimes or is acting reckless in a way that aids and abets war crimes.
Miller, however, distinguished between systematic state policies and individual military actions, suggesting Israeli soldiers committed war crimes in specific incidents rather than as part of deliberate government policy.
There have been individual incidents that have been war crimes, where members of the Israeli military have committed war crimes, he said.
He criticized Israel’s accountability measures, saying: We have not yet seen them hold sufficient numbers of the military accountable. He added it is an open question whether they will ever do that.
