- Lloyd Austin spoke by phone with his Israeli counterpart on Wednesday.
- He told Yoav Gallant there is a “risk of famine” following the strike by aid workers.
- President Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Thursday after an IDF drone strike killed seven aid workers in Gaza.
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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said during a call with his Israeli counterpart on Wednesday that there is “outrage” in the US government over a recent IDF attack that killed seven aid workers.
The Pentagon said Austin’s call to his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, “reinforced concerns expressed about a possible Israeli military operation in Rafah.”
Wednesday’s call was the first by a senior Western official to connect with Israeli officials after World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers were killed in a “triple touch” drone strike in Rafah, Gaza Strip, the Monday.
President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday and demanded an “immediate ceasefire” in his biggest condemnation to date of the Jewish state in its conflict with Hamas.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (left) spoke by phone Wednesday with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant (right) after an IDF strike killed seven aid workers in Gaza.
He warned during the 30-minute call that Israel could lose US military support if it does not take steps to protect Palestinians and aid workers.
Earlier on Thursday, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a Biden ally, said he would personally support putting conditions on U.S. aid to Israel if it continued with its current attack plan in Rafah.
Austin said in his call to Israel the day before Biden’s that the “tragedy” in Gaza will not make it more difficult to get food and humanitarian assistance to struggling Palestinians.
He warned that there is a ‘risk of famine’ in the communities in the northern part of the strip.
The Defense Secretary focused on the need for Israel to ensure the evacuation of Palestinian civilians and the groups’ ability to provide humanitarian aid in the region following the deaths of the WCK workers, DOD said in a readout of the call .
Biden said he was “outraged and heartbroken” in a statement earlier this week after it was revealed that the aid workers were killed.
Seven World Central Kitchen workers were killed in an Israel Defense Forces attack in Gaza on Monday, one of whom had dual US-Canadian citizenship.
President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers. In the photo: Biden and Netanyahu in Israel in October
One of the victims had dual US and Canadian citizenship; The other deceased were three from the United Kingdom, one from Poland, one from Australia and one was Palestinian.
Israel insists the attack did not “intentionally” target aid workers and apologized for the “serious mistake.”
Netanyahu, often called Bibi, said Israel cannot completely eliminate the Hamas terrorist group unless it goes after four battalions believed to be in Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip that borders Israel.
United Nations officials have insisted that Israel not attack Rafah, saying it would be a “disaster.”