Pentagon chief urges Israel to ‘scale back’ Beirut strikes: Civilian casualties ‘far too high’

By Reuters 19 October 2024, 8:43 pm

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In this handout photograph released by Italian defense ministry on October 19, 2024, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (R) and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (L) attend a morning roundtable of G7 defense ministers at the Palazzo Reale in Naples, Italy. (Massimiliano de Giorgi/Italian ministry of defense/AFP)

NAPLES, Italy — The United States would like to see Israel scale back some of its strikes in and around the Lebanese capital of Beirut, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says.

“The number of civilian casualties have been far too high,” he tells reporters at a G7 defense gathering in the Italian city of Naples. “We’d like to see Israel scale back on some of the strikes it’s taking, especially in and around Beirut, and we’d like to see things transition to some sort of negotiation that will allow civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes.”