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Wednesday, October 23, 2024
US defense chief says lack of humanitarian aid in Gaza could create more insurgents
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A failure to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza could create more insurgents, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says.
Speaking to reporters in Rome, Austin also says that he has not seen evidence that there was a Hezbollah bunker filled with cash built under a hospital in Beirut, adding that Washington would continue to work with Israel to get better insights.
“We have not seen evidence of that at this moment. But, you know, we will continue to collaborate with our Israeli counterparts to gain better fidelity on exactly what they are looking at,” Austin says.
The US defense secretary also says there are no indications any employees from the Office of the Secretary of Defense are being investigated for the leak of US intelligence about Israel’s preparations to strike Iran.
“There’s no OSD official being named as a part of this investigation,” Austin says.
The FBI said yesterday it was investigating the public disclosure of a pair of highly classified documents describing Israel’s preparations for a retaliatory strike on Iran, the bureau said on Tuesday. Social media posts, without evidence, singled out a US Defense Department employee as being under investigation for the leak.
The Times of Israel Community.