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The United States said it has no evidence of direct Iranian involvement in the devastating attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel.
The US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said this known on Tuesday.
Austin noted that Tehran has backed Hamas — which launched a coordinated ground, air and sea assault from Gaza on Saturday — for years.
“But in this particular instance, we don’t have any evidence that there was direct involvement in the planning or the execution of this attack,” the Pentagon chief told journalists aboard a US military aircraft.
That assessment was echoed by the US State Department, which emphasized however that it could change.
“Our experience in these matters tells us that it’s premature to draw any final conclusions about this issue.
Austin said Israel has “worked hard and stabilised things a bit” following the initial attack, resecuring “the southern end of the country there that Hamas had breached”.
“My focus is to make sure that we do everything we can as quickly as we can to support Israel as they defend their sovereign territory,” he said.
The US has sent an aircraft carrier and other warships to the eastern Mediterranean as part of efforts to deter an expansion of the conflict, and is also providing other assistance, including sharing intelligence with Israel.
AFP
