Palestinian Journalist Violently Dragged Out of State Department Press Conference to Questioning Blinken on Gaza War: 'Why Aren't You in The Hague?'

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will on Tuesday visit both Egypt and Qatar which are mediating an effort for a truce in the 10-month Gaza conflict. AFP

A Palestinian journalist was violently dragged out of a state department press conference Thursday after relentlessly pressing Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the war in Gaza.

Sam Husseini, who is Palestinian and Jordanian, gripped the edges of the table as he tried to continue asking Blinken questions while officers tried to remove him from the room. He can be heard telling officers "you're hurting me" in a video shared to X.

Sam Husseini forcibly removed from the briefing room after interrupting Blinken’s final press conference. @TheNationalNews pic.twitter.com/xw5ulrYhPA
— Willy Lowry (@willy_lowry) January 16, 2025

Husseini is then picked up and carried out of the room as he tries to ask Blinken about the International Criminal Court's case accusing Israel of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

"Criminal! Why aren't you in The Hague," he shouts as three officers take him out of the room. The ICC is located at The Hague.

The independent journalist was not the only one who slammed Blinken during the conference, as reported by Reuters. Max Blumenthal, editor of the Grayzone, asked Blinken before being removed from the room, "Why did you keep the bombs flowing when we had a deal in May?"

Israel and Hamas were confirmed to have agreed to a ceasefire deal on Wednesday, however Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has since stated that the deal was being delayed by an alleged last-minute disagreement with the Palestinian militant group, as reported by the Associated Press.

Blinken shared that the U.S. had "real differences" with Israel when it came to the defense tactics used, however he said they kept the disagreements private so that they would not "feed into Hamas' clearly held views that if that pressure was mounting ... they could refuse to engage on the negotiations," AP reported.

The Biden administration has faced heavy criticism for continuing to supply its ally with weapons even as the country was accused of not doing enough to prevent a humanitarian crisis. More than 46,000 Palestinians have died since the war in Gaza began, and more than 2 million people have been displaced, according to Palestinian officials.