WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had harsh words Friday against pro-Palestinian protesters who blame Israel for the horrific Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel.
“This is not a time for neutrality or for false equivalences, or for excuses for the unforgivable,” Austin told reporters in Tel Aviv. “There is never any justification for terrorism, and that is especially true after this Hamas attack.”
The Pentagon chief spoke as Palestinians and their allies planned protests across the United States on Friday, urging Washington to stop supporting Israel as its forces plan to invade the Gaza Strip in response to the killing of at least 1,300 people a week. pass.
“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, statehood and peace alongside Israel.”
Austin was joined by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who called on Palestinian civilians in Gaza to “evacuate and move south” to avoid becoming victims of Israel’s plan to take down Hamas and its infrastructure.
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“Israel will never, ever shoot civilians on purpose… The terrorists’ camouflage is the civilian population, so we must separate them,” Gallant said. “So those who want to save their lives, please go south.”
“We are going to destroy the infrastructure of Hamas, the headquarters of Hamas, the military establishment of Hamas and we will remove these phenomena from Gaza and from the Earth; they cannot live among civilized human people,” he added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday. GPO Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,000 Israelis during an attack last week. Yousef Masoud/SOPA Images/Shutterstock The bodies of Israelis killed in an unprecedented Hamas terrorist attack are gathered for identification at a military base in Ramla, Israel, on Friday.AP
Hours later, the Israel Defense Forces revealed that they had carried out a series of raids in the Gaza Strip “to complete the effort to clear the area of terrorists and weapons,” as well as to find dozens of hostages held by Hamas.
“Infantry and armored forces searched and gathered in the area for findings that may assist in the effort to locate missing and thwarted terrorist infrastructure and terrorist cells found in the area, among which a cell of the Hamas terrorist organization fired anti-tank fire into Israeli Territory,” the IDF said in X.
Austin, who once headed the combatant command that oversees U.S. operations in the Middle East, said the IDF’s use of force is justified following atrocities committed by Hamas last week.
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“Hamas’ deliberate cruelty reminds me vividly of ISIS: bloodthirsty, fanatical and hateful,” he said. “Encountering ISIS, I felt like we were looking evil in the eyes; It was really evil. And what we have seen from Hamas takes that evil to another level.”
Smoke rises during an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. AFP via Getty Images Israeli security forces deploy as they clash with Palestinians. AFP via Getty Images
Gallant agreed, calling Hamas “the ISIS of Gaza, an organization that enjoys the Iranian payroll.”
“I cannot let the world forget the brutal attacks that Hamas always carries out against Israeli children, Israeli women, elderly Israelis and entire families,” he said. “Murder, rape, kidnapping – this is what we face in this war.”
The worst attack on Israel in 50 years: how we got here
2005: Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip more than three decades after seizing the territory from Egypt in the Six-Day War.
2006: The terrorist group Hamas wins the Palestinian legislative elections.
2007: Hamas takes control of Gaza in a civil war.
2008: Israel launches a military offensive against Gaza after Palestinian terrorists fire rockets at the city of Sderot.
2023: Hamas launches largest attack on Israel in 50 years.
More than 1,300 Israelis have been killed, more than 3,000 wounded 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 were seen taking women hostage and parading them down the street in gruesome videos.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced “We are at war” and promised that Hamas would pay “a price it has never known.”
Gaza health officials report that at least 1,400 Palestinians have been killed and more than 6,000 injured.
Asked if he believed Iran approved the attacks, Gallant said: “It doesn’t matter whether they gave permission or not, but the idea is an Iranian idea.”
“Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas are an axis, an axis of evil,” he said. “Everything is generally directed from Iran.
“The permission is given by Iran, the money is provided by Iran and the ideas are shaped in Iran.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn