Shahed Ghoreishi, the State Department press officer for Israeli-Palestinian affairs, was removed from his position without an official explanation. He proposed language opposing forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza and wording mourning the deaths of Palestinian journalists; departmental leadership removed those lines. Internal records show debates over how to characterize U.S. positions on Israel's war in Gaza influenced the drafting of public statements. Similar language had previously appeared in statements by President Trump and a Middle East envoy but was nonetheless struck from the release. The firing raises questions about potential shifts in U.S. policy presentation regarding Israel and Palestine.
Earlier this week, the top State Department press officer on Israeli-Palestinian affairs, Shahed Ghoreishi, was fired from his position without explanation. The firing comes after several internal debates at the State Department regarding how to characterize U.S. positions on Israel's war in Gaza, according to internal State Department records reviewed by The Washington Post. In the most recent dispute before his firing, Ghoreishi had drafted a line for a press release in response to the controversial Israeli plan to relocate hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. The proposed line read, quote, "We do not support forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza," unquote. Despite similar language being used by both President Trump and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff earlier this year, it was struck from the statement by State Department leadership.
The proposed line read, quote, "We do not support forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza," unquote. Despite similar language being used by both President Trump and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff earlier this year, it was struck from the statement by State Department leadership.
#state-department-firing #israeli-palestinian-conflict #forced-displacement-gaza #press-freedom--journalists
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