US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has said that the US does not have evidence that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, Al Jazeera reports.

“We don’t have evidence of that,” Austin told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

During the hearing, Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas asked Austin: “You stand accused by those protesters of greenlighting genocide. Would you like to respond to that accusation?”

“What I would say Senator Cotton from the very beginning is that we are committed to help assist Israel in defending its territory and its people by providing security assistance. And I would remind everybody that you know what happened on October 7 was absolutely horrible,” Austin said.