(CNN) – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham dismissed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s warnings that more civilian casualties in Gaza could lead to the emergence of more rebels and a trade “tactical victory for a strategic failure.”
The Republican senator called Austin “hopeless,” saying he had “lost all hope.”
During her statement to CNN, Lindsey Graham asked: “Will the strategic failure anger the Palestinians? They are already angry. They have been taught from birth to hate Jews and kill them,” calling on Austin to “stop publicly criticizing Israel.”
Graham said: “Secretary Austin is telling Israel things it can’t accomplish. Secretary Austin, the reason Palestinians are dying: Gaza is too dense, and Hamas has tunnels under apartments, under schools, and under hospitals.”
Graham added that he understood what retired general Stanley McChrystal called the “insurgency calculus.”
“You know what they teach in schools? We or Israel somehow the people in Gaza[தீவிரவாதிகளாக]The idea of changing is ridiculous,” Graham asked.
Graham criticized a statement by US Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday, who said on the sidelines of the parties’ climate conference in Dubai on Saturday that “a large number of innocent Palestinians have been killed”.
“Vice President Harris, tell Israel how to destroy Hamas in a way that doesn’t hurt innocent Palestinians, and I’ll give it to you,” Graham said. I urge Israel to change its military tactics.
Meanwhile, the Republican senator said he would not vote for a bill to help Israel and Ukraine if the U.S. immigration restrictions pushed by him and his GOP colleagues were not included in the proposed legislation.
He added: “I think Israel has the votes except for the package (ie the bill). Republicans overwhelmingly support Israel — and so do most Democrats. Republicans are divided on Ukraine.”
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