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Pentagon chief heads to Israel, says no conditions on US arms transfers [1]
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Date: 2023-10
October 12, 2023
WASHINGTON — US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will land in Israel tomorrow in a sign of Washington's support amid Israel's ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, the Pentagon confirmed Thursday.
Austin is scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and members of the newly formed war cabinet for "in depth" discussions about their "operational planning and their objectives" for the conflict, a senior US defense official told reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday.
The announcement of Austin's trip comes just a day after top US diplomat Antony Blinken pledged Washington's continual backing for Israel's defense. The Biden administration has been rushing military aid to Israel while rallying a blitz of diplomacy to dissuade Iran-backed groups in neighboring countries from joining in the conflict.
The United States has already begun transferring Iron Dome air defense interceptors and is reportedly sending air-to-ground offensive munitions as Israel continues to pummel targets in Gaza.
The senior US defense official confirmed to reporters that Small Diameter Bombs and Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) guidance kits are among the Israeli requests being discussed with US officials, but declined to offer specific numbers.
In an unusual step, Austin told reporters during a press conference at the NATO summit in Brussels on Thursday that the Biden administration had not placed any conditions on Israel's use of the weapons and equipment provided by Washington.
"This is a professional military, led by professional leadership, and we would hope and expect that they would do the right things in the prosecution of their campaign," Austin said.
Israel’s military has mobilized some 300,000 personnel in preparation for a potential ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. Gallant said Wednesday the ongoing operation to depose Hamas from power in the Palestinian enclave could take "months."
Israel has imposed a total siege on the densely populated Palestinian enclave, cutting off water, electricity and fuel shipments for its 2.3 million residents. An Israeli official said Thursday that the siege would not be lifted until Hamas releases the hostages seized during its invasion of southern Israel last weekend.
Some 100-150 people were kidnapped and brought back to Gaza, among them several American citizens, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan said Tuesday.
The Biden administration has issued full-throated support for Israel’s war effort, which came in response to the unprecedented murderous assault by Hamas militants that left more than 1,300 Israels, the majority civilians, dead.
Collectively it was the worst terror attack in Israel’s history and the largest killing of Jewish civilians since the Holocaust. President Joe Biden and other US officials have likened Hamas’ rampage to the behavior of the Islamic State terror group.
Biden spoke with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week to offer US support.
The Pentagon dispatched its largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford, to the eastern Mediterranean Sea to deter any opportunistic attacks on Israel or US forces in the Middle East.
The senior defense official emphasized the Ford's intelligence collecting and long-range strike capabilities, but did not rule out that the US may respond if asked to do so in order to defend Israel from outside parties.
“I think it is very important for these leaders in these groups to understand the full capability of the US military which we have to put in the eastern Mediterranean,” the official said.
Washington remains wary the conflict could develop into a wider regional war should heavily armed Iran-backed groups such as Hezbollah attempt to open a second front by attacking Israel from the north.
A second US Navy carrier, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, is on its way to the Mediterranean on regular rotation and will be available to approach Israel in support if needed, the White House said Wednesday.
In a speech on Tuesday, the president said he had urged Netanyahu to abide by international law in the conflict.
“Terrorists purposefully target civilians; kill them. We uphold the laws of war — the law of war. It matters. There’s a difference,” Biden said in the televised address.
At least 1,417 Palestinians have been killed and 6,268 injured since Israeli strikes began Saturday, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza reported Wednesday.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern on Monday at reports that Israeli warplanes have hit medical facilities, schools and multi-story residential buildings.
On Tuesday the UN’s human rights chief Volker Turk slammed Israel’s conduct in the campaign as “collective punishment,” adding that sieges are a violation of international law. A spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Council later said Israel’s actions could constitute a war crime.
The UN’s World Food Programme said Thursday the besieged enclave would soon run out of food. Some 338,000 Gazans have been displaced, the UN said Thursday.
Senior Biden administration officials have been in talks with Israeli and Egyptian officials about potentially opening the Rafah border crossing into Egypt to allow humanitarian aid to flow in and the estimated up to 600 American citizens living in Gaza to evacuate.
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[1] Url:
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/10/pentagon-chief-heads-israel-says-no-conditions-us-arms-transfers
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