US defense chief denies genocide committed in Gaza
Time:2024-05-22 11:11:35 Source:worldViews(143)
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.
Previous:Midwest storms: Large hail, torrential rain and tornadoes and more is coming
Next:Jailed Guatemalan journalist to AP: 'I can defend myself, because I am innocent'
You may also like
- Mauricio Pochettino leaves Chelsea after one year as manager of the Premier League club
- Students at the Queen's University Belfast stage sit
- German teams' success in Champions League disrupting Germany's Euro 2024 preparations
- PrettyLittleThing billionaire Umar Kamani and new wife Nada host Disney
- Vatican makes fresh overture to China, reaffirms that Catholic Church is no threat to sovereignty
- Former corrections officer sentenced to 4 years for using excessive force
- Russia launches a 'massive' missile and drone attack on Ukraine's energy facilities
- PrettyLittleThing billionaire Umar Kamani and new wife Nada host Disney
- Detroit could be without Black representation in Congress again with top candidate off the ballot