‘You Have Nothing to Say?’ AP Reporter Grills State Department Spox on Israel’s Flattening of Gaza University

Lee: “Based on Saeed’s question about the the demolition of the university, I don’t know if you’ve seen the video. It’s pretty widely available — “
MILLER: “I have seen the video.”
Lee: “I mean, it looks like a controlled demolition. It looks like what we do here in this country when we’re taking down an old hotel or a stadium. And you have nothing to say? You have nothing to say about this? I mean, to do that kind of an explosion, you need to be in there. You have to put the explosives down, and it takes a lot of planning and preparation to do. And if there was a threat from this particular facility, they wouldn’t have been able to do it.”
MILLER: “So, I have seen a video. I can tell you that is something we are raising with the government of Israel, as we do often when we see — “
Lee: “Well, raising is what? Like — “
MILLER: “To — to ask questions and find out what the underlying situation is, as we often do when we see reports of this nature. But I’m not able to characterize the actual facts on the ground before hearing that response.”
Lee: “Yeah, but you saw the video.”
MILLER: “I did see the video. I don’t know — I don’t know what — “
Lee: “I mean, it looks like people — it looks like, you know, a bridge being imploded or something.”
MILLER: “I don’t know what was under that building, I don’t know what was inside — “
Lee: “Yeah, but it doesn’t matter what was under the building because they obviously got in there to put these explosives down to do it in a way that they did.”
MILLER: “Again, I’m — I’m glad you have factual certainty about it. I just — “
Lee: “I don’t. All I have is what I saw on the video, right? And I think you guys saw it, too.”
MILLER: “I did see it. And I can say that we have raised it with the government of Israel?”
Lee: “And it’s not troubling to you?”
MILLER: “We are always troubled by the — by any degradation of civilian infrastructure in Gaza, but without knowing the actual underlying circumstances, I’m a little hesitant, I think for reasons that should be understandable, to pass definitive judgment on it from this podium.”