Austin admits Israel killed 25K Gaza women, children; Pentagon backtracks

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has admitted that Israeli forces had killed more than 25,000 Palestinian women and children since October 7 last year, stressing that munitions provided to "allies and partners" should be used responsibly.

Austin's remarks came on Thursday during a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee when California Representative Ro Khanna questioned him about the death toll caused by the Israeli army since the surprise blitz by resistance group Hamas.

Asked whether he would halt future military sales to Israel if it moves forward with an assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah with no plan in place for civilian safety, he said: "I expect that when we provide munitions to allies and partners that they'll use them in a responsible way."

Austin said about 21,000 precision guided munitions had been provided to Israel since the start of its war in Gaza.

Austin was also asked about the precautions that the Israeli army was taking to protect civilians, saying that "based on the results and the significant loss of life, there's more that should be done."

Shortly after his remarks, Pentagon spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder said that Austin'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."

"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," he added.

Israel's carnage in Gaza

Israel has killed at least 30,035 Palestinians, mostly children and women, and wounded 70,457 others.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on besieged Gaza, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli carnage has pushed 85 percent of the blockaded enclave's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60 percent of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice.

An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

In its latest massacre, Israel fired on a food aid queue in besieged Gaza, killing at least 112 Palestinians and wounding more than 760.