(TheRedWire.com) – Last Tuesday, Lloyd Austin, the Defense Secretary claimed during a Senate Armed Services hearing that there was currently no evidence about a genocide in Gaza by Israel.
During his remarks, he denied that Israel was committing genocide as part of the country’s war against Hamas, a Palestinian militant group. This was after protesters had interrupted the hearing pushing for the United States to stop providing funding to a war that they called a genocide.
Following a question from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) Austin argued that there is no evidence of genocide. Austin also avoided making any reference to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas as a genocide following a question from the committee’s ranking member Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).
Austin had stated about the Oct. 7 attacks that it was a “war crime.” This was after Wicker had repeatedly questioned him trying to get him to refer to it as a genocide.
Hamas had killed over 1,100 people during the attack, while also capturing 240 hostages. Out of all the hostages around 100 are believed to still be in captivity in Gaza.
In response to the Oct. 7 attack, Israel has launched a war killing over 33,000 Palestinians, which has resulted in fears about a possible humanitarian crisis in the region as many Palestinians are fleeing to the territory’s southern part.
In late 2023 South Africa brought forward a case at the United Nations International Court of Justice in which they accused Israel of genocide. However, this case could take years to be resolved.
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