Pentagon Chief Stumbles Over The Number Of Palestinians Killed By Israel

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday that Israeli forces had killed over 25,000 women and children in Gaza — but the Pentagon walked back his remark, saying Austin was referring to Palestinian health officials’ count of all Palestinians killed since Oct. 7.

Austin’s comment came the same day Palestinian health officials said the death toll in Gaza surpassed 30,000 people.

Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee Thursday, Austin was asked about the death toll by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.)

“About how many Palestinian women and children have been killed by Israel since Oct. 7?” Khanna asked.

“It’s over 25,000,” Austin responded.

After Austin’s remark during the hearing, a Pentagon spokesperson hedged on the figure, saying Austin was using numbers from Palestinian officials and referring to all Palestinians killed, not just women and children.

“During the hearing today, Secretary Austin was asked how many women and children have died in Gaza,” Sabrina Singh, the deputy press secretary, told The Jerusalem Post. “To clarify, the Secretary’s answer was citing an estimate from the Hamas-controlled health ministry that more than 25,000 total Palestinians have been killed in Gaza. We cannot independently verify these Gaza casualty figures.”

During a Pentagon press briefing after the hearing, Department of Defense Press Secretary Pat Ryder said “we’re dependent on open-source information, like many of you. We’re certain that thousands of people have been killed, but as for the specific numbers, we cannot verify those specific statistics.”

The secretary’s comments came as a surprise given the United States’ public skepticism toward casualty figures from Gaza: President Joe Biden infamously said in late