UPDATE - US does not believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza: Defense chief

ADDS REMARKS

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US does not believe Israel is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, defense chief Lloyd Austin said Tuesday.

"We don't have any evidence of genocide being created" in Gaza, Austin said at a Senate hearing on the Pentagon’s budget request.

Austin reiterated that the US is committed to assisting Israel in defending its territory and people by providing security assistance.

The defense chief also said a mass famine will accelerate violence and have the effect of ensuring that there is a long-term conflict.

Washington encourages Tel Aviv to provide humanitarian assistance, open up more land routes and separate the Palestinian people from Hamas, said Austin.

He also rejected accusations that he gave a green light to Israeli killings in Gaza, after which a group of protestors interrupted the hearing in solidarity with Palestine.

Austin defended the US administration’s stance that Palestinians should get humanitarian aid when he was asked why Israel should have the responsibility to provide aid to Gaza by Sen. Tom Cotton, who said Israel was the victim of an unprovoked vicious attack on Oct. 7.

"If they (Israelis) want to create a lasting effect and in terms of stability, then I think that something needs to be done to account or to help the Palestinian people," said Austin.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Palestinian territory since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, which killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 33,200 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 76,000 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.