White House spokesman John Kirby defended Israel amid international outrage after an airstrike reportedly killed dozens of civilians in the Gaza Strip — saying the US military “did the same thing.”

“We have conducted airstrikes in places like Iraq and Afghanistan where, tragically, we caused civilian casualties,” he said — adding that the US responded the same way as Israel in the aftermath.

“We owned up to it, we investigated it, and we tried to learn from it to make changes,” Kirby said at Tuesday’s regular White House briefing.

US bombings that killed civilians included “as we pulled out of Afghanistan, where we conducted an airstrike which tragically killed a father and some of his kids,” he said.

“We atoned for it, we learned from it, and we put in place procedures to try to prevent that from happening again, and that’s what our expectations would be in this case.”

Kirby’s comments came after Israel reportedly killed over 40 displaced Palestinians on Sunday in an airstrike.

He said that two senior Hamas leaders had also been killed in the bombing.

“Hamas itself put out a statement celebrating the martyrdom of two of its fighters… So I don’t know how anybody could dispute that they weren’t trying to go after Hamas in a targeted, precise way in this regard,” he said.

“The Israelis have said they used 37-pound bombs, precision guided munitions. A 37-pound bomb is not a big bomb, and it is exactly the kind of munition…

“If, in fact, that’s what they used, it is certainly indicative of an effort to be discrete, targeted and precise,” he said.

“Now, obviously this had tragic results, and obviously that needs to be investigated, and we need to know why even using small-diameter, precision guided munitions this was able to happen, But we’ll have to let the Israelis get to the bottom of that.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that it is necessary to build relations with the Islamic Emirate due to their control over Afghanistan.

Putin told journalists on Tuesday, during a state visit to Tashkent, relations need to be built “accordingly”.

“These people (IEA) control the country and its territory and are the current rulers of Afghanistan,” he said.

Without elaborating on issues, he did however say that “everyone is aware of” current problems in the country.

“How to establish relations with the Taliban (IEA) is another question, but we must somehow [maintain] relations with them,” he added.

Referring to regional partners, including Central Asia countries, on establishing relations with the IEA, Putin said: “We take into account the opinions of each of our partners and friends and will coordinate on this issue.”

Putin’s remarks come a day after Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan, put forward a proposal to remove the IEA from Moscow’s terrorist list.

Speaking to TASS news agency, Kabulov said: “This must be done. Without this, it will be premature to talk about recognition. Therefore, work on this issue continues. All considerations have been reported to the top leadership of Russia. We are waiting for a decision.”

According to him, the Islamic Emirate government has come a long way towards being recognized since it came to power in Afghanistan in August 2021.

“But there are still a few hurdles to overcome, after which the Russian leadership will make a decision,” Kabulov pointed out.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has welcomed Putin’s remarks and those of other Russian officials.

The Islamic Emirate says that Afghanistan has a sovereign government and system and seeks interaction and good relations with all countries in the region and the world.

In reaction, John Kirby, the National Security Communications Advisor of the White House, said on Tuesday that Russia’s investigation into the removal of the IEA from the list of terrorist groups and the possible recognition could send a “terrible message” to other countries.

In response to a question whether this Russian action will have a message for America’s competitors, including China and Iran, Kirby said: “We think that [this action] will have a terrible message.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday that its Strategic Studies Center has conducted a discussion on the upcoming Doha meeting and how the Islamic Emirate interacts with the international community.

According to the ministry, Mohammad Zakir Jalali Director of the third political department of the IEA MFA, employees of various departments and diplomats took part in the discussion.

Jalali said in this discussion that compared to the first and second Doha meetings, a positive change can be observed in the interaction of the organizers and the hosts with regards to the third meeting.

He said the Islamic Emirate wants positive interaction with the international community; but does not want this interaction to be at the cost of political independence, religious and national values, and the dignity of the system and homeland.