According to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Israel has been asked to defend civilians in Gaza and intensify “surgical” operations there.
Following a discussion in Tel Aviv with his Israeli counterpart, Mr. Austin reaffirmed US backing for the offensive against Hamas.
He declared that Washington would give Israel more weapons, trucks, and ammunition.
Since Hamas launched its attacks on October 7, US authorities have remained unwavering in their backing of Israel.
However, there has been increasing pressure on President Joe Biden to scale back their military effort, even from members of his own Democratic Party.
Mr. Austin stated during his Monday speech that the US will not “dictate timelines or terms” of the battle to its ally.
“Our support to Israel’s right to defend itself is ironclad… and that’s not going to change,” he stated. “It’s critical… that Hamas not be able to threaten Israel from Gaza or even threaten Gaza anymore.”
Mr. Austin continued by saying that he and his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant had talked about the goals of the military campaign and “how to reduce harm to civilians in the battlespace”.
“We also have some great thoughts about how to transition from high intensity operations to a lower intensity and more surgical operations,” he stated.
Israeli soldiers would “continue to operate in Gaza with different levels of intensity,” according to Mr. Gallant.
Since the start of Israel’s military campaign, Mr. Austin has advised the country to moderate and focus its activities, but as the number of civilian deaths has escalated, he has spoken out more. He had before threatened to replace Israel’s tactical win with a strategic loss.
More on Israel-Gaza war
- • Stay up to current with live updates.
- • Jeremy Bowen clarified: What is the cost of peace?
- •Israel: Despite the death of his daughter, a tech mogul hopes for peace
- • Gaza: To what extent has harm been caused?
- • The background to the tale: Israel and Palestine’s dispute
Since the beginning of the conflict, more than 19,400 people have died and 52,000 have been injured in the Hamas-run enclave of Gaza, according to the health ministry.
Mr. Austin claimed he had talked about ways to minimize civilian deaths and collateral damage during the operation with Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Neyahu.
His comments are consistent with the US government’s recent stance on the war, in which officials have urged Israel to “put a premium on human life” and provide more guidance so that people can stay out of the fighting.
There has also been a growing dissatisfaction among senior US officials regarding Israel’s military reaction.
Because of what he described as Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza, Mr. Biden claimed last week that Israel was beginning to lose support from across the world.
However, he emphasized that he supported Israel’s right to self-defense and repeated that it could count on US assistance.
The growing human cost of Israeli military operations in the territory controlled by Hamas has become a source of concern. These operations started after over 1,200 Israelis were killed in Hamas strikes on Israel on October 7.
Israel was charged with “using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the Gaza Strip, which is a war crime” in a Human Rights Watch study that was made public on Monday.
