Austin is the second high-level U.S. official sent by President Joe Biden to visit Israel in two days.
His quick trip from Brussels, where he was attending a NATO defense ministers meeting, came a day afterarrived in the region. Blinken is continuing the frantic Mideast diplomacy, seeking to avert an expanded regional conflict.
"for their own safety and protection," ahead of a feared Israeli ground offensive. Gaza's Hamas rulers responded by calling on Palestinians to "remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm" against Israel. Austin has spoken nearly daily with Gallant and has directed the rapid shift of U.S. ships, intelligence support and other assets to Israel and the region. Within hours after the brutal Hamas attack across the border into Israel, the U.S. moved warships and aircraft to the region.is already in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and a second carrier was departing Friday from Virginia, also heading to the region.
The U.S. top diplomat "underscored that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people's right to dignity and self-determination and discussed ways to address the humanitarian needs of civilians in Gaza while Israel conducts legitimate security operations to defend itself from terrorism," Miller said.
He appealed against hindering the work of international agencies and warned against any attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza and elsewhere or to cause their internal displacement.
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