World

Top U.S. general cautions over risks in a long Gaza war

2023.11.09 05:34


© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: 21st Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Q. Brown, Jr. attends the Armed Forces Farewell Tribute in honor of General Milley and an Armed Forces Hail in honor of General Brown, at Summerall Field at Joint Base Myer-Henderson H

By Phil Stewart

TOKYO (Reuters) – A faster resolution to the fighting in Gaza could help limit civilian strife that might spur people to join the ranks of Palestinian militants, U.S. President Joe Biden’s top military adviser said.

General Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Israel’s stated aim for its military campaign in Gaza — the complete destruction of the Hamas militant group that runs the territory — was “a pretty large order.”

But he also said Israel was focused on targeting the senior leadership of Hamas, which might be achieved more quickly.

“I think the longer this goes, the harder it can become,” Brown told reporters before arriving in Japan on Thursday, in his first detailed remarks on the month-old conflict.

Israel launched a ground and air offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip after gunmen crossed from the small enclave into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,400 people and taking about 240 others hostage.

Palestinian officials said 10,569 Gaza residents had been killed as of Wednesday, about 40% of them children, and humanitarian problems are mounting.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday the number of civilians killed in Gaza showed there was something “clearly wrong” with Israel’s military operations.

Brown, who took over as the U.S. military’s top officer just over a month ago, expressed confidence that Israel was abiding by the laws of war in Gaza.

He also said there was room for Israel’s military to improve in its public explanations about its conduct, and that he had raised this with his Israeli counterpart.

“There’s room for improvement based on what we’re seeing,” Brown said. “What I’ve talked to him about is how do we demonstrate — not only with the videos but also as they talk about the strikes — why they’re striking in some locations, provide more context to the strike.”

Asked whether he was concerned a high Palestinian civilian death toll could push people to join the ranks of the militants, Brown said: “Yes, very much so. And I think that’s something we have to pay attention to.”

“That’s why when we talk about time — the faster you can get to a point where you stop the hostilities, you have less strife for the civilian population that turns into someone who now wants to be the next member of Hamas,” he said.

ISRAEL BRACES FOR LONG, TOUGH WAR

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Israelis the country is in a “tough war” that will also be long.

Israel has blamed Hamas for civilian deaths in Gaza, saying it is using civilians as human shields and hiding arms and operations centres in residential areas.

Brown stopped short of advocating for a short campaign or offering his view of how long Israel’s Gaza operation should last.

Brown has overseen air campaigns in the Middle East in the past, including during the battle to retake cities in Iraq from Islamic State militants. He said military campaigns can drag on longer than expected.

“(Almost) every conflict that I’ve been involved with throughout my military career … (has) particularly gone a bit longer than most people would have imagined. So we’ve got to prepare ourselves for that,” he said.

Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 102,924.58 0.05%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 2,337.82 7.05%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.01%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 2.35 2.37%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 643.33 3.07%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 173.19 7.42%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.00%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.204799 5.74%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.776795 2.58%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.260574 1.46%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 2,334.84 7.19%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 102,877.56 0.07%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 3.91 1.77%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 15.98 1.43%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 2,808.40 7.03%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 23.09 5.73%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.294766 2.31%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000015 6.60%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.202555 4.79%
hyperliquid
Hyperliquid (HYPE) $ 24.80 7.83%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 3.27 2.62%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 409.26 3.04%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 8.75 1.09%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.00%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 100.08 6.80%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 4.80 8.44%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 2,337.13 7.16%
monero
Monero (XMR) $ 308.37 3.25%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 2,493.37 6.93%
bitget-token
Bitget Token (BGB) $ 4.48 0.11%
pi-network
Pi Network (PI) $ 0.736662 15.26%
binance-bridged-usdt-bnb-smart-chain
Binance Bridged USDT (BNB Smart Chain) (BSC-USD) $ 1.00 0.04%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000012 11.93%
coinbase-wrapped-btc
Coinbase Wrapped BTC (CBBTC) $ 102,953.58 0.04%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.10%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 30.28 0.30%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 6.30 7.48%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 428.58 2.67%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 2.89 7.97%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 1.00 0.02%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 5.52 1.63%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 54.16 2.81%
ondo-finance
Ondo (ONDO) $ 1.01 4.81%
aave
Aave (AAVE) $ 210.22 3.32%
susds
sUSDS (SUSDS) $ 1.05 0.01%
blackrock-usd-institutional-digital-liquidity-fund
BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) $ 1.00 0.00%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 19.14 3.59%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.101444 3.61%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 5.42 4.90%
official-trump
Official Trump (TRUMP) $ 14.09 14.04%