The White House is ripping comments by UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Martin Griffiths that Hamas is not a terrorist group.
"Hamas is a terrorist organization," White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby insisted on Thursday, according to The Jerusalem Post.
"And you don't have to look any further than what they did on the 7th of October to see it in stark terms," he said.
Kirby's remarks referenced the Hamas-led attack against southern Israel in which over 1,200 people were killed and another 253 seized as hostages.
"My goodness, take a look at their manifesto, even the one that's so-called watered down in 2017," Kirby said. "There's no doubt they just want to wipe Israel off the face of the map.
"This is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. Period."
His comments came after Griffiths said "Hamas is not a terrorist group, for us, of course as you know. It's a political movement"
Israel's UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan expressed outrage over Griffiths' comments made during an interview on Sky TV.
Erdan posted on X: "The UN's pro-Hamas stance is finally exposed on live TV. In the words of a UN Under-Secretary-General "Hamas is NOT a terrorist group for us, it's a political movement.
"Is the brutal murder of hundreds of civilians, not terror? Is the systematic rape of women not terror? Is attempting Jewish genocide not terror?
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the @UN: a terror-excusing Hamas-promoting, victim-blaming organization that has lost every ounce of credibility. Nothing said by the UN can be trusted or accepted.
"@UNReliefChief you are no 'humanitarian.' Sadly, you are a terror collaborator."
A UN official told The Jerusalem Post: "There are different parts to Hamas. There's a political element to Hamas as there is also an armed element."