U.S. Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin mentioned Thursday that Israeli forces had killed over 25,000 ladies and kids in Gaza — however the Pentagon walked again his comment, saying Austin was referring to Palestinian well being officers’ depend of all Palestinians killed since Oct. 7.
Austin’s remark got here the identical day Palestinian well being officers mentioned the demise toll in Gaza surpassed 30,000 individuals.
Testifying earlier than the Home Armed Providers Committee Thursday, Austin was requested concerning the demise toll by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.)
“About what number of Palestinian ladies and kids have been killed by Israel since Oct. 7?” Khanna requested.
“It’s over 25,000,” Austin responded.
After Austin’s comment in the course of the listening to, a Pentagon spokesperson hedged on the determine, saying Austin was utilizing numbers from Palestinian officers and referring to all Palestinians killed, not simply ladies and kids.
“Through the listening to immediately, Secretary Austin was requested what number of ladies and kids have died in Gaza,” Sabrina Singh, the deputy press secretary, instructed The Jerusalem Put up. “To make clear, the Secretary’s reply was citing an estimate from the Hamas-controlled well being ministry that greater than 25,000 whole Palestinians have been killed in Gaza. We can’t independently confirm these Gaza casualty figures.”
Throughout a Pentagon press briefing after the listening to, Division of Protection Press Secretary Pat Ryder mentioned “we’re depending on open-source data, like a lot of you. We’re sure that hundreds of individuals have been killed, however as for the precise numbers, we can’t confirm these particular statistics.”
The secretary’s feedback got here as a shock given the USA’ public skepticism towards casualty figures from Gaza: President Joe Biden infamously mentioned in late October final 12 months, “I’ve no notion that the Palestinians are telling the reality about how many individuals are killed.” (HuffPost reported afterward that inner U.S. assessments incessantly cited the Gaza well being ministry’s statistics.)
Palestinian well being officers mentioned Thursday that the demise toll within the Gaza Strip had handed 30,000 after Israeli troops reportedly fired on a crowd of Palestinians ready for assist in Gaza Metropolis.
Well being officers don’t distinguish between combatants and civilians of their casualty figures, however as The Related Press reported, the well being ministry “says ladies and kids make up round two-thirds of these killed.” That will put the variety of ladies and kids killed at round 20,000.
However information retailers additionally recurrently word that demise toll figures from Gaza could undercount the total scope of killing — for instance, individuals presumed to be buried below rubble attributable to Israeli air strikes.
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