Pentagon chief vows support for Israel, calls for cease-fire
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel reiterated US support for Israel in its relentless assault on Gaza but called for “a humanitarian cease-fire” as the staggering number of civilian deaths in the besieged enclave draws international condemnation.
Share It :
According to a statement released by the Pentagon on Wednesday, the Pentagon chief “reiterated U.S. support for Israel's security and its right to self defense” in a phone conversation with Moshe Ya’alon, Israel’s minister of military affairs.
Israel has vowed to continue its bloody war on the Gaza Strip. At least 1,364 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,700 others have been injured since the onslaught began on July 8.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, presses on with retaliatory rocket attacks on Israel. Tel Aviv has confirmed that it has lost 56 of its troops in clashes with Palestinian resistance fighters so far. But Palestinians say the Israeli death toll is much higher.
According to Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby, Hagel called for “disarmament of Hamas” during his phone conversation with Ya’alon.
Hagel also “expressed concern about the rising number of Palestinian civilian deaths as well as the loss of Israeli lives.”
As the world is witnessing Israel’s brutal attacks against Palestinians in Gaza, senior US officials, including President Barack Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and many members of Congress, have supported Israel’s “right to defend itself.”
Kerry was sharply criticized by US lawmakers and the Israeli press after he put forth a ceasefire plan on Friday. The initiative was unanimously rejected by the Israeli security cabinet.
On Monday, US lawmakers from both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill said they will “stand with Israel” and that standing with Israel will remain their “cause.”
Last week, Hagel sent a letter to congressional leadership requesting $225 million in additional US funding for Israel’s Iron Dome, which is a short-range rocket defense system designed to intercept rockets and artillery shells fired from a range of between four and 70 kilometers.
The money would be in addition to the $351 million that is already under discussion for Iron Dome in fiscal 2015. It would bring total funding to $576 million, compared with the $176 million requested by the Pentagon for the year that begins on October 1.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tel Aviv will need even more money from Washington if the war continues. Israel already receives over $3 billion from the US in military aid every year.
