US defense chief denies genocide committed in Gaza
The Pentagon is not backing off on its support for Israel, despite growing frustration by some U.S. lawmakers that Israel is crossing ethical lines as it goes after Hamas in Gaza.
During a U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday interrupted multiple times by protesters accusing Israel — and the United States — of having innocent blood on its hands, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin pushed back.
Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican, asked Austin: "Is Israel committing genocide in Gaza?"
Austin replied: "Senator Cotton, we don't have any evidence of genocide."
But under repeated questioning, Austin acknowledged Israel’s military can and must do more to differentiate between Hamas militants and civilians.
"There’s no question that there have been far too many civilian casualties in this conflict,” he said.
Austin said he has warned his Israeli counterpart that a failure to allow the delivery of much more humanitarian aid to Gaza “would just create more terrorism.”
As for continued talk by Israel about an operation to root out Hamas in Rafah, the secretary of defense was blunt. “It cannot be what we’ve seen in the past in terms of the type of activities that we've seen in Gaza City and in Khan Yunis,” he said.
Not all lawmakers were satisfied with those answers. Some expressed frustration that Washington has been forced to step in.
"There's no reason the United States should have to build a pier in the eastern Mediterranean. There's no reason we should have to airdrop supplies,” said Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat. "The pace of humanitarian aid is insufficient."
Other lawmakers put blame on Hamas. Austin agreed that the U.S.-designated terror group’s ongoing conduct continues to amount to war crimes.
The hearing was about President Joe Biden's budget request for the Department of Defense.
Related articles
- Dear Jane,My son and his wife - who I've never really liked, if I'm being totally honest - welcomed2024-05-29
Eurozone inflation slows to 8.5 pct in January: Eurostat
People shop at a store with discount signs in Berlin, Germany, on Feb. 1, 2023. Annual inflation in2024-05-29Feature: Race against time to find survivors at epicenter of Türkiye's massive earthquakes
Rescuers search for survivors on the rubble of a building destroyed in a powerful earthquake in Kahr2024-05-29Hiroshi Tai wins NCAA golf title and helps Georgia Tech advance
CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) — Georgia Tech sophomore Hiroshi Tai survived a triple bogey on his 17th hole2024-05-29More countries to participate in 4th China International Consumer Products Expo
(ECNS) -- Countries including the United Kingdom, Russia, Mongolia, and Malaysia will participate in2024-05-29
atest comment