US Defense Secretary says there was no indication Hamas planning attack on US troops

HONOLULU: U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Thursday he did not see any indication Hamas was planning any attack on U.S. troops in Gaza but added adequate measures were being put in place for the safety of military personnel.

“I don’t discuss intelligence information at the podium. But I don’t see any indications currently that there is an active intent to do that,” Austin said during a press briefing.

“Having said that … this is a combat zone and a number of things can happen, and a number of things will happen.”

A maritime pier constructed by the U.S. military to speed the flow of humanitarian aid in Gaza should be open within a matter of days, despite poor weather hampering preparations, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday.

The United States has called on both Israel and Hamas to ensure that aid bound for civilians in Gaza is not disrupted, after a shipment from Jordan was attacked by Israeli settlers and subsequently diverted by Palestinian militants.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday he has still not seen a plan for Israel’s planned offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah that would protect civilians, repeating that Washington could not support such an assault.

Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Jerusalem for two-and-a-half hours, after which Israel repeated that the Rafah operation would go ahead despite the US position and a UN warning that it would lead to “tragedy”.

“We cannot, will not support a major military operation in Rafah absent an effective plan to make sure that civilians are not harmed and no, we’ve not seen such a plan,” Blinken told reporters.

“There are other ways, and in our judgment better ways, of dealing with the … ongoing challenge of Hamas that does not require a major military operation in Rafah,” he said, adding that it was the subject of ongoing talks with Israeli officials.