2023-10-12 19:01:00
Barlamane.com | 20:01 – October 12, 2023
The United States has not placed any conditions on the use of its military aid to Israel, which responded with massive strikes to the assault launched by Hamas, declared Thursday in Brussels the American Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin .
“We have not placed any conditions on the use of our equipment. This is a professional army led by a professional command. We hope and expect that they will do things correctly in implementing their campaign,” declared the American minister to the press, following a meeting of defense ministers from the countries of NATO.
This confirmed the commitment of the United States alongside Israel, in order to respond as quickly as possible to requests for equipment or military aid that the Israeli authorities could present.
“We are moving quickly to provide Israel with what it needs to continue protecting its citizens and territory,” Austin said.
Asked about the proportionate use of force against Hamas, Mr. Austin refused to give a precise definition.
“Israelis have the right to protect their people and we expect them to remain focused on that, so I’m not going to try to define proportionality for you,” he told reporters.
Mr. Austin also said the United States had had no indication that a Hamas attack was being prepared against Israel. “If we had such indications, we would have shared them with Israel, but, to my knowledge, we have not seen anything like that,” he said.
The death toll from the attack launched on Saturday by the Palestinian Islamist movement in Israel exceeds 1,200, the vast majority civilians. Some 150 hostages were taken to Gaza.
After the attack, the army claimed to have recovered the bodies of 1,500 infiltrated Palestinian fighters.
The Israeli response in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 1,350 people, including many civilians.
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