US defense chief: 'We don't have any evidence' Israel is committing genocide in Gaza
Lloyd Austin's statement came just weeks after the State Department said it had found no evidence of the Israeli military violating the law of war in Gaza, despite extensive allegations to the contrary by UN officials and international aid groups.
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has no evidence that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Senate lawmakers on Tuesday, as pressure mounts on the Biden administration to curtail arms transfers to Israel over its forces’ conduct in the war.
“We don’t have any evidence of genocide being [committed],” Austin replied to Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
Why it matters: Austin’s comments came amid deepening global outcry over the Israeli campaign’s widespread killing of civilians and destruction of infrastructure in Gaza.
Yesterday, video surfaced of a senior member of the committee, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), saying she believes the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) possesses sufficient evidence to find that Israel’s conduct legally constitutes genocide.
