Failure to protect Gaza civilians will create Palestinian generation resistant to cooperation: US

WASHINGTON (AA) – US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has said that Israel’s failure to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip could lead to a generation of Palestinians resistant to cooperation with Israel.

During remarks to reporters in Rome, Austin said he regularly discusses the importance of protecting civilians and providing humanitarian aid with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant.

“We’ve got to be more precise in our operations, and we have to make sure that we’re doing what’s necessary to get assistance and aid in to the civilians,” said Austin.

“Failure to do that will create a generation of Palestinians that really will continue to resist cooperating with Israel in the future. So, you’re actually increasing the numbers of insurgents in the space if you fail to do that,” said the defense chief. “It’s a strategic imperative, in my view.”

The Israeli army has continued its brutally genocidal offensive on Gaza since last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire

Nearly 42,800 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 100,400 injured, according to local health authorities. Several analysts believe the actual toll including those gone missing or dying of starvation or disease in the devastated territory is at least 3-4 times more than the officially recorded numbers of casualties.

The onslaught has displaced almost the territory’s entire population amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.