American Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with his Israeli counterpart Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP December 18, 2023
The United States reiterated this Monday (18) its support for Israel in the war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza and called for an intensification of humanitarian assistance.
“We will continue to provide Israel with the equipment it needs to defend its country (…), including critical ammunition, tactical vehicles and air defense systems,” American Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Austin also called the State of Israel Washington's “best friend” and said his country will “neither set the timing nor the deadlines for war.”
The entry of international aid into the Gaza Strip is subject to Israel's approval, and Austin stressed the need to “offer more humanitarian assistance to the approximately two million displaced people in Gaza” and “better distribute it.”
This week, the US Secretary of Defense is making a diplomatic trip to the Middle East, where concerns are growing about a regional expansion of the conflict due to bombings by the Lebanese organization Hezbollah against northern Israel and drone attacks by the Houthi rebels (from Yemen) in the Red Sea, which impacts international trade.
“We ask Hezbollah to be careful and not do things that could provoke a larger conflict,” Austin said.
Stop fire
Despite increasing calls for a ceasefire, including from Israel's traditional allies such as Germany and the United Kingdom, Washington maintains its support for the Israeli government.
The United Nations Security Council will vote this Monday (18) on a new resolution calling for an “urgent and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza, ten days after the veto of the United States.
The war was sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attack in which its militants killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and kidnapped another 240 in Israel. There are currently around 129 hostages still held captive in Gaza.
The ceasefire reached at the end of November allowed the release of 105 hostages in exchange for around 300 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.