WASHINGTON: US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday said that the United States was dedicated to a diplomatic resolution in Lebanon and urged Israel to improve the “dire” conditions in Gaza.
According to Pentagon spokesperson, Austin held a telephonic conversation with his Israeli counterpart.
Austin “reiterated the US commitment to a diplomatic resolution in Lebanon that allows Israeli and Lebanese civilians to return safely to their homes on both sides of the border” in his call with Israel Katz, said the spokesperson.
Austin also “urged the Government of Israel to continue taking steps to improve the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza and emphasised the US commitment to securing the release of all hostages, including US citizens.”
Lebanon said Saturday that an Israeli airstrike in the heart of Beirut, which brought down a residential building and jolted residents across the city, killed at least 11 people.
Lebanon’s health ministry reports that at least 3,645 people have been killed in Israel’s attacks since October 2023.
The United Nations and other organisations have repeatedly decried the humanitarian conditions, particularly in northern Gaza.
Israel Strikes Kill 19 Palestinians in Gaza
Gaza’s civil defence agency said that 19 people, including at least six children, were killed by Israeli air strikes and tank fire on Saturday.
Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that “more than 40 others wounded in three massacres caused by Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip between midnight and this morning”, as well as by tank fire in Rafah in the territory’s south.
One of the strikes hit a house in the Zeitun neighbourhood of Gaza City in the north of the territory, killing seven people, three of them children, and wounding 10.
In the call with Katz, Austin also discussed ongoing Israeli operations and reaffirmed Washington’s “ironclad commitment to Israel’s security,” the Pentagon said. — AFP
