– US Defense Chief In Israel Pressuring Netanyahu Govt To Scale Back Killing:
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is the latest high-ranking US official to visit Israel on Monday, where he’ll get a closer assessment from Israeli counterparts on how Gaza operations are going – but importantly he’s expected to convey a message of restraint as global pressure on both Tel Aviv and Washington intensifies.
Earlier this month he was among the first most visible officials in the Biden administration to issue rare, surprising criticism of Israel, which has long been America’s closest ally in the Middle East. “You know, I learned a thing or two about urban warfare from my time fighting in Iraq and leading the campaign to defeat ISIS,” he said in a speech at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California. “The lesson is not that you can win in urban warfare by protecting civilians. The lesson is that you can only win in urban warfare by protecting civilians.” He raised eyebrows by then saying Israel faces a “strategic defeat” if it doesn’t reduce civilian casualties in Gaza.
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