WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told House lawmakers Tuesday that US forces helping to construct a floating humanitarian pier along the Gaza Strip’s coast may return fire if attacked from the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave — causing an uproar among both Democrats and Republicans.
Last month, President Biden ordered the Army to build the $320 million “Joint Logistics Over The Shore” jetty system, meant to ease the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza by sea as Israel’s war against Hamas nears the seven-month mark.
When asked by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) about the possibility of US forces coming under fire from land, Austin acknowledged to the House Armed Services Committee: “That’s possible, yes.”
“So if someone from land, and Gaza, shoots at our service members who are on the $320 million pier that we’re building, you’re telling me our service members can shoot back?” Gaetz asked.
“They have the right to return fire to protect themselves,” the Pentagon chief affirmed.
Later, in a tense exchange, Gaetz reminded Austin that “President Biden told the country that we weren’t going to have boots on the ground in Gaza.”
“We won’t,” Austin shot back.
“But you guys parse the distinction between – like when Americans think boots on the ground, they think Americans in harm’s way or engaged actively in a conflict,” the Republican said.
“You guys seem to be sort of saying that boots on a pier, connected to the ground, connected to service members shooting into Gaza doesn’t count as boots on the ground.”
When Austin confirmed that notion, Gaetz responded: “I think you’re gonna find the American people have a different perspective on that.”
Hamas officials have made public threats against any outside forces approaching the region. Khalil al-Hayya, a senior official of the jihadist group, recently threatened that it would attack Israeli or other forces who may be stationed around the pier.
“We categorically reject any non-Palestinian presence in Gaza, whether at sea or on land, and we will deal with any military force present in these places, Israeli or otherwise … as an occupying power,” he said.
Gaetz said Austin’s admission that a firefight could break out was a “very telling moment.”
“You’ve said something that’s quite possible,” the Floridian said. “Shots from Gaza, on our service members, and then the response – our armed service members shooting live fire into Gaza – that is a possible outcome here so that we can become the Port Authority and run this pier.“
“If we’re gonna have people shooting into Gaza,” Gaetz concluded, “we [Congress] probably should have a vote on that pursuant to our war powers.”
Democrats also raised questions about the potential implications of a Hamas attack on US troops on the pier, though the party has generally been more enthusiastic about delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) questioned Austin about whether putting US forces under threat of attack could provoke a wider conflict after the defense secretary said the “Israelis will provide additional security in the area.”
“As many as 1,000 US uniformed officers are going to be involved in setting up here; a smaller number will be resident there,” she said. “If we are shot at – if more artillery is shot at us – who is responding and with what operating procedures is that military responding?”
Austin declined to detail how the Israel Defense Forces would respond to attacks on US troops, but Slotkin posited that an uncontrolled Israeli retaliation for such a move could exacerbate the onslaught on Gaza.
“I just think given the differences I think we have with the Israelis on civilian casualties,” she said, “we better get right clear about what the response is going to be when we are shot at, since I don’t think many Americans feel that it reflects the same values that we have here.”
