The stopover comes amid a multi-day tour of the U. S. official in the Middle East, with stops in Israel and Bahrain.
U. S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin landed in Qatar on Tuesday, where he met with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, as well as other Qatari officials to discuss peace and security issues.
The U. S. official thanked the prime minister for sending U. S. troops from Qatar to Al-Udeid Air Base, the largest U. S. military base in the Middle East, calling the meeting “based on mutual respect and trust. “
Austin met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defense Affairs Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah and stressed the importance of the defense partnership with the Gulf State as a major non-NATO ally.
The secretary of state thanked the two ministers for Qatar’s critical efforts to secure the release of 110 hostages held by Hamas.
The Qatar visit followed the Secretary’s visit to Bahrain, which addressed the several attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Israel-bound cargo ships in the Red Sea.
In Qatar, Austin spoke about the Houthis’ threats to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.
He said the Houthis’ aggression against ships transiting critical waterways poses dangers to the global economy.
The stop in Qatar is part of a multi-day trip by US officials to the Middle East, which also stopped in Israel.
In Israel, Austin said the United States would not dictate its orders to Israel as it wages its war in Gaza in a joint news conference with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant.
“Regarding timetable, this is Israel’s operation, and I’m not here to dictate timelines or terms,” Austin said on Monday during his visit to Israel, where he met senior leaders.
“Our defense of Israel’s right to protect itself is unwavering. At the same time, Austin called covering Palestinian civilians a “moral duty and a strategic imperative. “
On his fourth stop in Israel as defense leader and his second since Oct. 7, Austin told his Israeli counterpart that it is “crucial” to limit civilian casualties.
“Secretary Austin, we know the complexities of war,” Gallant replied. “We know it takes time. Unlike our enemies, we uphold our values and operate in accordance with foreign laws. [Israeli forces] are operating to minimize the harm to the civilian population,” he added.
According to the Gaza health authorities, at least 19,453 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on the strip since October 7th.
Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said at a press conference that 52,286 other people were also injured in the war.
The New York Times reported last week that Biden’s senior officials want Israel to end its large-scale ground and air operations in Gaza within weeks and move into a more targeted phase of the war as pressure mounts for a ceasefire.
Gallant said the transition to the next phase will depend on when strategic goals are achieved, noting that times are renewed on the battlefield.
“All in all, there is no clock that is running that we have to obey a certain day,” he said.
“But we want to do other performances in the box before we move on to the next phase,” Gallant added.
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