Dave Smith GRILLS Retired Green Beret Matt Tardio Over Israeli Troops Firing Live Ammunition at Palestinians Waiting for Food Dave Smith: Using opinion polls to justify violence against a civilian population is laughable. The Iraq War was enormously popular among Americans at first, yet a million Iraqis died. That doesn’t mean anyone has the right to commit violence against American or British citizens who supported a bad policy. You’re saying 25% of the population can be connected to responsibility for October 7, but Israel conducted a war against 100% of Gaza’s civilian population. In March 2025, Smotrich announced a food blockade that lasted three months. Who was that against? The entire civilian population. Even Israelis claimed Hamas was stealing the food, so they knew they weren’t just starving Hamas. They were depriving civilians of food. Matt Tardio: First of all, I’m not the Jewish state. I’m American, and I’m America First. Dave Smith: Did you not get the point? Matt Tardio: I got your point, but you haven’t addressed mine. You’re a comedian, and I’m a retired Green Beret. Hamas has continued fighting for years. The Israeli Defense Forces aren’t surviving on one shipment of ammunition. They’re constantly resupplying. Last September, I posted pictures on my X account after visiting the COGAT website and speaking with an officer at the Kerem Shalom border crossing. I questioned how so many weapons and supplies could be smuggled in from Egypt. I documented ammunition, explosives, precursors, and other contraband found in humanitarian aid trucks. The week before, more than 25,000 pounds of such material had reportedly been shipped in. The photographs were geolocated and tagged. There needs to be a better control system to prevent Hamas from stealing these supplies. Dave Smith: Was shooting live ammunition into crowds of people waiting for food necessary too? Matt Tardio: I’ve written a long article about that. Anthony Aguilar even admitted that the crowd-control methods used to prevent food from being distributed required extensive discussion. At the time, humanitarian aid had been blocked, and the UN was warning that Gaza was on the brink of famine or already experiencing it. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was brought in quickly to establish large-scale food distribution sites. The options were to get food in quickly while risking the lives of personnel on the ground, or take months to build fully secured distribution sites. Dave Smith: And risk the lives of innocent civilians. Matt Tardio: Right, but that would mean waiting months Dave Smith: You’re risking their lives! Who fires live ammunition? Would you be comfortable with that if it were your child desperately waiting for food? Would you be okay with that decision? Matt Tardio: Calm down, Dave. Calm down. Dave Smith: No. Answer the question.