Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks to reporters during Israel trip | full video

T. Belman. Austin repeats Biden’s policy of emphasizing the need to protect “innocent” Palestinians and to stop “settler violence”. No change there. He also stressed the need for surgical strikes in the south as opposed to what took place in the north of Gaza. The humanitarian effort must continue because we must protect these “innocent civilians,” Austin and Biden have never mentioned the need to save IDF lives. Yet that should be Israel’s primary concern, not the lives of Gazans. He made one concession. He won’t “‘dictate timelines or terms’ of war” but he did call for ““winding down major combat operations in Gaza, withdrawing most ground troops and moving to more targeted operations””

Gallant re-emphasized that Israel’s goals will be achieved but he had nothing to say about saving our soldiers lives.