US does not believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza: Defence chief

United States Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin remarks came during a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee when California Rep. Ro Khanna questioned him about the death toll caused by the Israeli army since the cross-border incursion last year by the Palestinian group [Celal Güneş – Anadolu Agency]

The US does not believe Israel is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, Defence chief, Lloyd Austin, said Tuesday, Anadolu Agency reports.

“We don’t have any evidence of genocide being created,” Austin said at a Senate hearing on the Pentagon’s budget request.

Austin reiterated that the US is committed to assisting Israel in defending its territory and people by providing security assistance.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Palestinian Territory since a 7 October cross-border attack by the Palestinian Resistance group, Hamas, which killed nearly 1,200 people.

However, since then, it has been revealed by Haaretz that helicopters and tanks of the Israeli army had, in fact, killed many of the 1,139 soldiers and civilians claimed by Israel to have been killed by the Palestinian Resistance.

More than 33,200 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 76,000 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which, in January, issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

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