Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told a Senate committee that the US "does not have evidence" that Israel is committing a genocide against the Palestinian people, even as Israel faces mounting pressure from the international community to mitigate the growing humanitarian crisis inside Gaza.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton posed the question after Lloyd's statements to the Senate Armed Services Committee were disrupted by a protester yelling "the blood of the Palestinian people is on your hands," according to Forbes.
"We don't have any evidence of genocide being created," Austin told the committee.
The Defense Secretary added that the U.S. was "committed to helping assist Israel in defending its territory and its people by providing security assistance."
In the six months since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel that killed more than 1,000 people, the situation inside Gaza has grown increasingly dire. At least 33,037 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 13,000 children. People in northern Gaza are subsisting on an average of 245 calories per day, according to Oxfam International. The region is also considered the most dangerous place in the world for journalists and aid workers.
In recent weeks, even long-time Israel supporters in Washington have become critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after an Israeli Defense Forces airstrike killed seven aid workers, including one American citizen. Tensions between President Joe Biden and Netanyahu have also escalated as Israel threatens a ground invasion of the Gaza city of Rafah - something the US has said would be a "mistake."
Israel's critics have accused the country of conducting a genocide in Gaza for months - with South Africa launching a case in United Nations' International Court of Justice alleging "acts and omissions by Israel" are "genocidal in character." In response, the ICJ ordered Israel to take action to prevent a genocide from occuring.
