John Kerry caught sarcastically mocking Israeli ground offensive in Gaza as a 'Helluva pinpoint operation'

Kerry appeared on Fox News Sunday with host Chris Wallace Sunday morning

As Kerry was waiting to start the show, he took a phone call from an aide

'It’s a helluva pinpoint operation,' he said in a sarcastic reference to Israel's operation in Gaza

Secretary of State John Kerry was caught on camera Sunday criticizing the Israeli military's operation in Gaza after learning of Palestinian and Israeli deaths.

As Kerry was waiting to appear on Fox News Sunday, he got a call from an aide while seated directly in front of a camera, and while he had a microphone attached to his lapel when he made a sarcastic jab at the Israeli operation.



'It’s a helluva pinpoint operation,' he's heard saying into his cellphone. 'It’s a helluva pinpoint operation. We’ve got to get over there. Thank you, John. I think John, we ought to go tonight. I think it’s crazy to be sitting around.'

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'Helluva pinpoint operation': John Kerry was caught on camera making sarcastic comments about Israel's military operation in Gaza

Oops: Kerry didn't realize his mic was on when he was speaking on the phone with one of his aides

Agitated: Host Chris Wallace then asked a clearly irritated Kerry to explain his comments

After a rather heated discussion with host Chris Wallace, Wallace played the clip on the air and then questioned him about his comments.



'Secretary Kerry, when you said it’s a helluva pinpoint operation, are you upset the Israelis are going too far?' Wallace asked.

Kerry, clearly not thrilled when Wallace told him he planned to play a clip of what he thought was a private conversation with a staffer, offered his response.



'I think it’s very, very difficult in these situations, obviously very difficult, Chris,' he said, adding Israel has a 'right to go in and take out [Hamas] tunnels.'

Conflict: Smoke billows from a neighborhood in Gaza as Israel launched a ground offensive Sunday

America's top diplomat went on to say that the Obama administration 'supports Israel’s right to defend itself against rockets that are continuing to come in.'

'So yeah, it’s tough, it’s tough to have this kind of operation,' he continued. 'And I reacted, obviously, in a way that anybody does with respect to, you know, young children and civilians. But war is tough.'

On Sunday, the first major ground battle in two weeks of Israel-Hamas fighting killed 65 Palestinians and 13 Israeli soldiers and forced thousands of terrified Palestinian civilians to flee their neighborhood, reportedly used to launch rockets at Israel and now devastated by the fighting.



Air strikes: Previously, Israel launched only air strikes against Hamas militants in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the offensive would continue 'as long as necessary' to end attacks from Gaza on Israeli civilians.



But Hamas seems defiant, international cease-fire efforts are stalled, and international criticism is becoming more vocal as the death toll among Palestinian civilians rises.



U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon called Israel's latest incursion 'atrocious,' and said it must do far more to protect civilians.













