State Department spokesman Mark Toner squirms as he answers the AP reporter’s question about U.S. double standards in relation to Israel. Photo: Screenshot.

The Associated Press’ Matt Lee tripped up State Department spokesman Mark Toner on Monday for appearing to hold the Israeli military to a higher standard than that of the U.S.

The challenge on the part of the journalist came in the wake of last weekend’s tragic U.S. air strike in Kurduz, Afganistan, which hit a Doctors Without Borders facility, leaving 22 dead.

Lee questioned Toner over a 2014 State condemnation of an Israeli strike over Gaza, which hit a U.N. shelter, saying that the U.S. was “appalled” by such “disgraceful shelling,” and that “the suspicion that militants are operating nearby does not justify strikes that put at risk the lives of so many innocent civilians.”

Toner tried to address Lee’s question by stating that the airstrike in Afghanistan was clearly unintentional, and that Lee should give him “a pass” until the investigation is carried out. At this point, Lee reminded Toner that the U.S. condemnation of the IDF strikes was issued before an investigation.

Lee asked whether the U.S. would call last weekend’s air strike “appalling and disgraceful,” to which Toner deflected and stressed the importance of carrying out an investigation.

Watch a video of the exchange below: