During a congressional hearing, Austin was asked how many Palestinian women and children had been killed by Israel and Austin replied: "It is over 25,000."
A few hours later, Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokesperson, said that Austin was citing an estimate from the Gaza health ministry and was referring to total Palestinians killed, not just women and children.
"We cannot independently verify these Gaza casualty figures," Singh said in a statement.
In late January, Palestinian health officials said the death toll from Israeli strikes had passed 25,000. That number, according to the Gaza health ministry, is now over 30,000 Palestinians.
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In one day you have Biden walking back cease-fire comment, and Pentagon walking back Austin's casualties' number. This already does plenty of damage to US credibility, strategy in handling Gaza.
@QuailHarperGreen2yrs2Y
Confirmed
However, given the scale of the damage and the lack of documentation devices like cameras and smartphones with power, there are likely many more than that that have not yet been documented, no?
@K3ynesianRubyDemocrat2yrs2Y
The USA is responsible as well.
@DreadfulTr3atyGreen2yrs2Y
@L3ftWingGaryRepublican2yrs2Y
It's just great that we have SecDef out here repeating Hamas propaganda. Great work guys...
@ISIDEWITH2yrs2Y
@ISIDEWITH2yrs2Y
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