Tel Aviv, Oct 13: US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told Israeli leaders that “we have your back” as he reaffirmed US support in the first week of their war against the militant Hamas group. He voiced little public criticism of their stunning demand that some 1 million civilians evacuate northern Gaza.
Austin, the second high-level US official sent by President Joe Biden to visit Israel in two days, was seeing firsthand some of the weapons and security assistance that Washington rapidly delivered to Israel after it was attacked. He stressed that “this is a time for resolve and not revenge, for purpose and not panic and for security and not surrender.” The defence secretary’s quick trip to Israel from Brussels, where he was attending a NATO defence ministers meeting, came a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the region. Blinken is continuing the frantic Mideast diplomacy, seeking to avert an expanded regional conflict.
The Israeli military directed Gaza City residents to evacuate “for their own safety and protection,” ahead of a feared Israeli ground offensive. Gaza’s Hamas rulers responded by calling on Palestinians to “remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm” against Israel.
Asked about the likelihood of civilian casualties in Gaza, Austin said Israel has the right to defend itself and added that he has worked with Israeli forces over the years, when he was in the military.
“They are professional, they are disciplined and they are focused on the right things,” he told reporters, after meeting for nearly two hours with Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant and the Israeli War Cabinet.
A senior defence official said the US has already given Israel small diameter bombs as well as interceptor missiles for its Iron Dome system and more will be delivered.
Austin has spoken nearly daily with Gallant and has directed the rapid shift of US ships, intelligence support and other assets to Israel and the region. Within hours after the brutal Hamas attack across the border into Israel, the US moved warships and aircraft to the region. (AP)
