US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a call with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz that it was important for the United States and Israel to be in close consultation on events unfolding in Syria, the Pentagon said Wednesday -Friday (11).
Austin told Katz that Washington was monitoring developments on the ground in Syria and supported a peaceful and inclusive political transition, according to the statement.
Adding that the US would continue its mission to prevent the Islamic State militant group from re-establishing a safe haven in Syria.
Fall of Bashar al-Assad
With a lightning advance, Syrian rebels led by rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani ended more than 50 years of rule by the Assad family.
President Bashar al-Assad fled the country over the weekend and the world is watching to see whether Syria’s new rulers can stabilize the country.
After the collapse of the Assad regime, the Israeli army reported that its jets conducted hundreds of strikes in Syria and destroyed most of the country’s strategic weapons stockpiles.
“Secretary Austin emphasized the importance of close consultation between the United States and Israel regarding events in Syria,” the Pentagon explained.
According to the statement, Austin also discussed with Katz attempts to protect Israeli hostages in Gaza and urged Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, where Israel’s military assault has led to accusations of genocide and war crimes.
Israel vs Hamas
The current crisis in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli counts.
Israel’s subsequent military assault on Hamas-ruled Gaza killed nearly 45,000 people, the local health ministry claims. It also led to extreme hunger and displacement of nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million population.
This content was originally published in Pentagon chief calls for “careful conversation” between Israel and the US about Syria on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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