Tel Aviv (AFP) – In footage from the Israeli Government Press Office, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says “this is no time for neutrality” as he visits Israel in the wake of last weekend’s bloody attack by Hamas militants. More than 1,200 Israeli civilians were killed in the attack, with the country’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant calling the violence “a war on the existence of Israel as a prosperous state”. Responding to the attack, Israel has been pounding Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, with officials there reporting close to 2,000 deaths.
