Former Biden spokesperson now admits Israel committed 'war crimes'

Former US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, who worked under the Biden administration and frequently defended Israel's war on Gaza, has now told Sky News he believes that Israel has "without a doubt... committed war crimes".

In a podcast interview published on Monday, Miller - now speaking as a private citizen - said he does not believe Israel is carrying out a genocide, but that it is failing itself as a democracy by not holding soldiers accountable for their actions in Gaza. 

Miller added that there were "disagreements all along the way" on how to handle Israel's war on Gaza. 

"The administration did debate, at times, whether and when to cut off weapons to Israel. You saw us in the spring of 2024 stop the shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel because we did not believe they would use those in a way that was appropriate in Gaza," he said.

"We found ourselves in this really tough position, especially in that time period when it really came to a head," Miller told Sky News.

"We were at a place where - I'm thinking of the way I can appropriately say this - the decisions and the thinking of Hamas leadership were not always secret to the United States and to our partners."

"It was clear to us in that period that there was a time when our public discussion of withholding weapons from Israel, as well as the protests on college campuses in the United States, and the movement of some European countries to recognise the state of Palestine - appropriate discussions, appropriate decisions - protests are appropriate - but all of those things together were leading the leadership of Hamas to conclude that they didn't need to agree to a ceasefire, they just needed to hold out for a little bit longer, and they could get what they always wanted," Miller said of the Biden administration's policy approach.