US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has arrived in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv to meet with senior government leaders and see first-hand some of the US weapons and security assistance that Washington rapidly delivered to Israel in the first week of its war with the militant Hamas group.
Mr Austin is the second high-level US official to visit Israel in two days.
His quick trip from Brussels, where he was attending a Nato defence ministers’ meeting, comes a day after US secretary of state Antony Blinken arrived in the region on Thursday.
Mr Austin met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and spent nearly two hours with Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant and the Israeli war cabinet.
Speaking in front reporters before his meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr Austin told Mr Netanyahu: “As the president said, we have your back.”
He added: “We do stand with you, Mr Prime Minister.”
Asked about the likelihood of civilian casualties in Gaza, Mr Austin said Israel has the right to defend itself and added that he has worked with Israeli forces over the years, when he was in the military.
“They are professional, they are disciplined and they are focused on the right things,” he told reporters.
Mr Gallant did not answer a question about whether his forces will give civilians just 24 hours to leave Gaza. But he said those who want to save their lives must “go south”.
“Israel never and ever will not shoot civilians on purpose. Never,” Mr Gallant said. But he added that Hamas militants will camouflage themselves with the population and Israel will have to separate them.
Mr Austin also made the point that “this is a time for resolve, and not revenge, for purpose and not panic, and for security, and not surrender”.
Mr Blinken is continuing frantic diplomatic efforts in the Middle East, seeking to avert an expanded regional conflict.
His arrival comes as Israel’s military directed hundreds of thousands of residents in Gaza City to evacuate “for their own safety and protection”, ahead of a feared Israeli ground offensive.
Gaza Update:
220,000 people sheltering in 92 @UNRWA schools
340,000 displaced Palestinians
With no access to provide essential supplies, UN humanitarians warn that Gaza is on the brink of running out of food, water, electricity & critical supplies. https://t.co/PqFxuGi1K0 pic.twitter.com/XjGhau7bZA— United Nations (@UN) October 12, 2023
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Gaza’s Hamas rulers responded by calling on Palestinians to “remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm” against Israel.
Defence officials travelling with Mr Austin said he wants to underline America’s unwavering support for the people of Israel and that the United States is committed to making sure the country has what it needs to defend itself.
A senior defence official said the US has already given Israel small diameter bombs as well as interceptor missiles for its Iron Dome system, and more will be delivered. Other munitions are expected to arrive on Friday.
Mr Austin has spoken almost every day with Mr Gallant, and directed the rapid shift of US ships, intelligence support and other assets to Israel and the region.
Within hours after the brutal Hamas attack across the border into Israel, the US moved warships and aircraft to the region.
The USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier strike group is already in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and a second carrier was departing on Friday from Virginia, also heading to the region.
Mr Austin declined to say if the US is carrying out surveillance flights in the region, but America is providing intelligence and other planning assistance to the Israelis, including advice on the hostage situation.
A day after visiting Israel to offer the Biden administration’s diplomatic support in person, Mr Blinken is in Jordan on Friday for talks with Jordanian King Abdullah II and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has a home in the Jordanian capital of Amman.
The monarch rules over a country with a large Palestinian population and has a vested interest in their status while Mr Abbas runs the Palestinian Authority that controls the West Bank.
Later Friday, Mr Blinken is to fly to Doha for meetings with Qatari officials who have close contact with the Hamas leadership and have been exploring an exchange of Palestinian prisoners in Israel for the release of dozens of Israelis and foreigners taken hostage by Hamas during the unprecedented incursion of the militants into southern Israel last weekend.
Mr Blinken will make a brief stop in Bahrain and end the day in Saudi Arabia, a key player in the Arab world that has been considering normalising ties with Israel, a US-mediated process that is now on hold.
He will also travel to the United Arab Emirates and Egypt over the weekend.
