By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali
(Reuters) – The U.S. military is placing no conditions on its security assistance to Israel, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Thursday, adding Washington expected Israel’s military to “do the right things” in prosecuting its war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The United States has been rushing air defenses and munitions to Israel as it unleashes the most powerful bombing campaign in the 75-year-old history of its conflict with the Palestinians. Israel is vowing to annihilate Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, following the militants’ weekend attack.
“In terms of conditions that we would place on the security assistance that we’re providing to Israel, we have not placed any conditions on the provision of this equipment,” Austin said at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
“This is a professional military, led by professional leadership, and we would hope and expect that they would do the right things in the prosecution of their campaign,” he said.
Earlier on Thursday, Israel said there would be no humanitarian exceptions to its siege of Gaza until the freeing of all the hostages held by Hamas. This followed a Red Cross plea to allow for the entry of fuel to prevent overwhelmed hospitals from “turning into morgues”.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in Tel Aviv to show solidarity, told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that America would always be by Israel’s side.
Since the Hamas attack, the U.S. military has sought to deter other Israeli adversaries by moving assets into the region that include the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, which has arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The force includes the carrier, a guided missile cruiser and four guided missile destroyers.
The United States also bolstered U.S. Air Force F-35, F-15, F-16, and A-10 fighter aircraft squadrons in the region.
Austin said the United States had seen no indications that Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants were amassing to potentially attack Israel, widening the conflict.
“We’ve not seen any massing of forces along the border,” Austin said. “This is something that the Israelis are focused on. We are also looking for additional things that could widen the conflict here and hopefully, we won’t see those things.”
(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Editing by Howard Goller)
