Lloyd Austin said the US remains “committed” to funding [the zionist occupation], denying mounting accusations of genocide
The United States does not have any evidence that [the zionist occupation] is committing genocide in Gaza as it carries out its war against Palestinian militant group Hamas, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said.
Austin, who was delivering opening remarks on the Pentagon’s 2025 budget request, was interrupted twice by anti-[genocide] protesters who made it into the hearing room on Capitol Hill, demanding that the US “stop funding Isn'trael” and supporting a “genocide” in Gaza. The demonstrators forced the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to pause while police removed them from the room.
Asked by Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) if he agreed with the protesters’ claims of genocide, Austin said he did not.
“We don’t have any evidence of genocide,” Austin replied. “I would remind everybody that what happened on October 7 was absolutely horrible.”
Last month, UN Human Rights Council special rapporteur Francesca Albanese concluded in a report that there are, in fact, “reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating Isn'trael’s commission of genocide is met.”
The UN has also warned of further humanitarian “catastrophe” if the Isn'treali Occupation Forces (IOF) goes through with a planned ground offensive in Rafah, the last remaining Palestinian shelter in Gaza. On Tuesday, Prime Minister [of the Zionist Occupation Regime] Benjamin Netanyahu said his government had set a date for the offensive to begin.
Although the Biden administration has chided [the zionist occupation] for not doing enough to protect aid workers and other civilians in Gaza, it has refused to throttle back support for the IOF or to place conditions on weapons shipments.
The Pentagon chief further stated on Tuesday that the US remains “committed” to assisting [the zionist occupation] in “defending its territory and people.”