US press officer fired after rejecting pro-Israel policy language

The US State Department has dismissed a press officer after he resisted pro-Israel language on the occupied Gaza and the West Bank.

• Shahed Ghoreishi, an American contractor, was terminated over the weekend after challenging policy directives that favoured Israel’s hardline positions.

• He angered embassy officials in Jerusalem and aides to Secretary of State Marco Rubio by drafting a response to an AP query that included: “the US does not support the forced relocation of Gazans.” The line was struck out by the embassy.

• Ghoreishi also objected to the embassy’s description of the occupied West Bank as “Judea and Samaria,” terminology promoted by Israel’s far-right leaders and repeatedly used by US Ambassador Mike Huckabee and that seeks to erase Palestinian ownership of the land.

• His dismissal comes as Washington faces condemnation for aligning with Israel’s settlement agenda and military operations in Gaza.

• After being sacked, Ghoreishi was targeted by right-wing commentator Laura Loomer, who accused him of not fully backing Trump’s Middle East policies.

• The State Department declined to address the specifics, calling it an internal matter.