WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had scathing words Friday for pro-Palestinian protesters who blamed Israel for the horrific October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel.
“This is not a time for neutrality or for false similarities, or for excuses for unforgivable things,” Austin told reporters in Tel Aviv. “There has never been any justification for violence, and that is especially true after this Hamas rampage.”
The Pentagon chief spoke as Palestinians and their allies planned protests across the US on Friday, urging Washington to end support for Israel as its forces plan to attack the Gaza Strip in response to the slaughter of at least 1,300 last week.
“Anyone who wants lasting peace and security for this region must condemn and isolate Hamas,” Austin said. “Hamas does not speak for the Palestinian people or their legitimate hopes for dignity, security, and statehood and peace with Israel.”
Austin was joined by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who pleaded for Palestinian civilians in Gaza to “evacuate and move south” to avoid falling victim to Israel’s plan to eliminate Hamas and its infrastructure.
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“Israel will never shoot civilians on purpose … Terrorist disguises are civilians, so we have to separate them,” Gallant said. “So those who want to save their lives, please go south.”
“We will destroy the infrastructure of Hamas, the headquarters of Hamas, the military establishment of Hamas and take these phenomena out of Gaza and out of the Earth – they cannot live among civilized people,” he added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday. GPO Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,000 Israelis during attacks last week. Yousef Masoud/SOPA Images/Shutterstock The bodies of Israelis killed in an unprecedented Hamas terror attack are collected for identification at a military base in Ramla, Israel, Friday.AP
A few hours later, the Israel Defense Forces revealed it had carried out a series of raids in the Gaza Strip “to complete efforts to clear the area of terrorists and weapons” and to find a number of hostages held by Hamas.
“Infantry and armored forces searched and assembled in the area for findings that may assist in locating lost and thwarted terrorist infrastructure as well as terrorist cells found in the area, among which cells of the Hamas terrorist organization fired anti-tank fire. Israeli territory,” the IDF said on X.
Austin, who once headed the combatant command that oversees US operations in the Middle East, said the IDF’s use of force was justified in the wake of Hamas atrocities last week.
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“The deliberate brutality of Hamas clearly reminds me of ISIS: bloodthirsty, fanatical and hateful,” he said. “Meeting with ISIS, I felt as if we were staring at the evil eye; it’s really bad. And what we see from Hamas — it takes that evil to another level.”
Smoke billows during an Israeli airstrike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.AFP via Getty Images Israeli security forces are deployed during clashes with Palestinians.AFP via Getty Images
Gallant agreed, calling Hamas “the ISIS of Gaza, an organization that enjoys the pay of Iran.”
“I cannot let the world forget the brutal attacks that Hamas has always carried out against Israeli children, Israeli women, Israeli seniors and entire families,” he said. “Murder, rape, kidnapping – this is what we are dealing with in this war.”
The worst attack on Israel in 50 years: How we got here
2005: Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip three decades after winning the territory from Egypt in the Six-Day War.
2006: The terrorist group Hamas wins Palestinian legislative elections.
2007: Hamas takes control of Gaza in a civil war.
2008: Israel launched a military offensive against Gaza after Palestinian terrorists fired rockets into the city of Sderot.
2023: Hamas launches its biggest attack on Israel in 50 years.
More than 1,300 Israelis have been killed, more than 3,000 injured and at least 100 taken hostage, with the death toll expected to rise after Hamas terrorists fired thousands of rockets and sent dozens of militants into Israeli cities.
Hamas terrorists are seen taking women hostage and parading them through the streets in a gruesome video.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced “We are at war” and promised Hamas would pay an “unprecedented price.”
Gaza health officials reported at least 1,400 Palestinians killed and more than 6,000 wounded.
Asked if he thought Iran authorized the attack, Gallant said: “It doesn’t matter if they gave or didn’t give permission, but the idea was Iran’s idea.”
“Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas are an axis – an axis of evil,” he said. “Everything is directed generally from Iran.
“The permission was given by Iran, the money was supplied by Iran and the ideas were formed in Iran.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
