Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin took after President Biden Thursday by citing Hamas-dictated death tolls for women and children in Gaza, telling House lawmakers in a hearing that “over 25,000” of them have been killed since the Oct. 7 terror attack that triggered a declaration of war against the terror group by Israel.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) drew the answer out of the Pentagon chief during a House Armed Services Committee hearing as President Biden’s administration is trying to negotiate a “temporary cease-fire” in the five-month-old conflict.
Following Austin’s appearance, the Pentagon issued a clarification that the defense secretary was relying on the Gaza Ministry of Health when answering Khanna’s question.
“During the hearing today, Secretary Austin was asked how many women and children have died in Gaza,” a Pentagon spokesperson told The Post. “To clarify, the Secretary’s answer was citing an estimate from the Hamas-controlled health ministry that more than 25,000 total Palestinians have been killed in Gaza. We cannot independently verify these Gaza casualty figures.”
The civilian death toll is high in the densely populated area, but figures disclosed by the Hamas-controlled agency had been viewed as unreliable by US officials.
In late October, just weeks after the war started, Biden said: “I have no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using.”
That changed in February when Biden apparently accepted a number close to the Gaza health ministry’s count of roughly 28,000 deaths.
“Too many, too many of the over 27,000 Palestinians killed in this conflict have been innocent civilians and children, including thousands of children,” the president said on Feb. 12 following a meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters after the about-face, “The president was referring to publicly available data about the total number of casualties.”
“And as he said, too many of that total number, unfortunately, are innocent civilians,” Kirby added.
A senior Israeli military official confirmed in December that roughly two civilians are killed for every one Hamas terrorist neutralized, but noted the Gaza death toll does not separate civilians from jihadists.
Several protesters from the activist group CODEPINK stood at the back of the hearing room during Austin’s testimony, holding up signs with bloody handprints.
“AUSTIN: GAZA BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS,” one read.
Last week, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield voted against a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire, saying any pause in the fighting should be conditioned on the return of 134 hostages taken by Hamas during their brutal rampage across southern Israel.
“My national security adviser tells me that we’re close, we’re close, we’re not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we’ll have a cease-fire,” Biden, 81, told reporters on Monday in New York.
The Hamas attack killed an estimated 1,200 people, many of whom were civilians and 33 of whom were American citizens. Another 250 were taken back to Gaza as hostages. Though dozens have been released since, at least 32 have died in captivity.
The Israel Defense Forces responded by invading the northern region of the Palestinian territory, while launching airstrikes to eliminate Hamas leaders.
Biden has upped his criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the war nears the end of its fifth month and the Jewish state’s military attempts to evacuate Palestinian civilians before an invasion of Rafah on the Gaza-Egypt border.
The president has called Netanyahu an “a–hole” and a “f—ing bad guy” over the course of the war, according to reports, griping that the Israeli PM is “giving him hell” for not supporting efforts to crush Hamas for good.
Arab American and Muslim American voters in the US are also hitting the president for not pressuring Israel into putting a stop to the conflict, with public polls showing diminished support for Biden ahead of the 2024 election.
Khanna pressed Austin during Thursday’s hearing about the looming invasion of Rafah, noting that Kirby and national security adviser Jake Sullivan had cautioned against military action without protections in place for civilians.
“We understand that there are Hamas units and leaders who have migrated down to Rafah,” Kirby acknowledged last week, adding that Hamas continues to use civilians as human shields.
Asked whether he would hold up military aid for Israel if Netanyahu goes forward with the invasion, Austin told Khanna, “Obviously, sir, that’s a presidential decision.”
“I spoke to Minister [Yoav] Gallant last night,” Austin said, referring to Israel’s defense minister, “and I expect that when we provide munitions to allies and partners that they’ll use them in a responsible way.”
