By JACOB MAGID FOLLOWToday, 8:21 am
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a joint news conference with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo and National Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro after a foreign and defense ministerial meeting at Camp Aguinaldo in Manila, Philippines, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Basilio Sepe)
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says Washington will help defend Israel if it is attacked, while working to reduce tension in the region following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.
Austin, during a press conference in the Philippines, says a wider war in the Middle East is not inevitable.