Austin Urges Israel to Take Diplomatic Path to Reduce Area Tensions

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant yesterday following the Iran-backed Houthi ballistic missile attack against Israel that day and a barrage of rocket attacks into northern Israel by the Iran-backed terrorist organization Lebanese Hezbollah over the weekend, according to a Pentagon news statement.

During that call, Austin reaffirmed the United States' ironclad commitment to Israel's security and Israel's right to self-defense, said Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon press secretary, who held a news conference today.

"The secretary also reiterated the urgent need for a cease-fire and hostage deal," Singh said. "He stressed that Israel should give diplomatic negotiations time to succeed, noting the devastating consequences that escalation would have on the people of Israel, Lebanon and the broader region."

In a separate development, the last U.S. military personnel, along with their assets, left Niger yesterday. The withdrawal began May 19.

"The effective cooperation and communication between the United States and Nigerien armed forces ensured that the safe, orderly and responsible withdrawal was completed without complications at the mutually decided date of Sept. 15," Singh said.

It was also reported that the North American Aerospace Defense Command detected and tracked Russian IL-38 and TU-142 military aircraft operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone over the last several days.

An ADIZ begins where sovereign airspace ends. It is a defined stretch of international airspace that requires the identification of all aircraft in the interest of national security.

"In all cases, the Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace," Singh said.

This Russian activity in the Alaska ADIZ occurs regularly, according to NORAD news releases.

"The U.S. has been tracking these planned exercises for some time and they pose no threat to the U.S. homeland or the NATO alliance. We'll continue to monitor, as evidenced by NORAD's activities over the weekend and will remain in close communication with our NATO allies and partners," Singh said.