Gallant said that this juxtaposition of meetings and allegiances was "the clearest sign that there is a war going on between the free world and the axis which promotes terror."
More specifically, at the congressional hearing, Austin was asked how many Palestinian women and children had been killed by Israel, and Austin replied: "It is over 25,000."
Last week, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby told reporters in Washington that the US doesn’t want "a second front” on Israel’s northern border.
In the wake of the drone attack, President Joe Biden's administration is vowing to do whatever it takes to protect US troops from an escalating cycle of violence in the Middle East.
Demonstrators, including families of hostages, are once again blocking aid trucks from entering the Gaza Strip in Kerem Shalom, despite US demand that aid enter unhindered.
Austin, who sits just below Biden at the top of the chain of command of the US military, withheld his hospitalization on New Year's Day from the president and the public for days.
Even members of the White House's National Security Council were not informed, and Congress was apparently notified only 15 minutes before the press.
“In the Red Sea, we are leading a multi-national maritime task force to uphold the bedrock principle of freedom of navigation,” Austin said.
For Austin, the trip is a delicate balancing act.
Kuwait has played a very circumspect role in the region.
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