>> friends don't have to be. when you're connected, you're not alone. >> supporting c-span as a public service along with these other television providers giving you a front row seat into democracy. >> defense department deputy press secretary sabrina took questions from reporters on the israel hamas war including the legit airstrike on the hospital that killed more than 500 people. she also discusses new leading y declassified images and videos of chinese military actions against u.s. aircraft in international airspace. from the pentagon this is just under an hour. hi, everyone.

good afternoon. i would like to introduce the admiral commander united states indo pacific command and assistant secretary defense for indo pacific security affairs and riskya. operational behavior over the last year or so against u.s. aircraft operating lawfully in international airspace in the east and south china sea region. we will release the videos and images later this afternoon and with that i will turn it over. >> thank you, sabrina. good afternoon everyone. i would like to take this opportunity to speak about the newly declassified pictures and videos shared by the department today that depict the sharp increase in risky operational behavior in east and south china seas and in particular i'd also like to discuss why it represents such a significant ntconcern. as many of you know every year for over 20 years the department of defense has released what we

call the china military power reform. it's an important document because that's then departments authoritative public assessment of the pla and the. role it pls in helping to realize beijing's broader ambitions. this year's report will be out soon and taken together with today's announcements it represents the most comprehensive depiction to date of this highly concerning behavior. last year noted the pla fighter jets were increasingly engaging in coercive and risky operational behaviors, this provides a clear estimate of that disturbing trend. specifically since the fall of 2021, we have seen more than 180 such incidents more in the past two years van in the decade before that. that's nearly 200 cases where the pla operators performed reckless maneuvers were discharged shut off flares or approached to rapidly were too

close to u.s. aircraft all as part of trying to interfere in the ability of u.s. forces to operate safely in places where we and every country in thers world have every right to be under international law. when you take into account cases of coercive t and risky interces against other states, the number increases to nearly 300 cases against u.s. come ally and partner aircraft over the past two years. let me give you a moment to explain why this matters from our perspective. for decades, the united states has operated in the region safely, responsibly and in accordance with international law and we will continue to do so. our allies and partners welcome our military presence because it advances our shared vision for a free and open indo pacific. this vision which secretary alston described in the dialogue this year is characterized by respect for's poverty, adherence to international law, believe in

transparency and openness, freedom of commerce and navigation, equal rights for all states and the resolution of disputes through peaceful means, not through coercion or conquest. and it's the peace and stability extending from the security environment that provided the foundation for the regions shared prosperity. by contrast, the corsican risky behavior like the kind of the department is highlighting today seeks to intimidate and coerce members of the international community to givinger up their rights on the international law. it directly contradicts what the region wants for itself and it can put lives at risk, our service members and even the lives of pla operators. today they may need to look different with her in terms of the distance between the lawfully operating u.s. assets into the pla asset engaged in coercive and risky behavior or in terms of how exactly the

asset behaves in any given interaction. but all of these examples we released today -underscore the coercive intent of the pla by engagingng in these behaviors particularly in the international airspace. the bottom line is that in many cases, thisat type of operationl behavior can cause accidents, dangerous accidents can lead to inadvertent conflict. january this year for example, the american aircraft is flying in the skies of the south china sea, safely, responsibly and in accordance with international law and hundreds of miles from land. the pla jetas fighter approached at hundreds of miles per hour clearly armed and closing to just 30 feet away. once it was there, the fighter jet lingered out the narrow proximity for more than 15 minutes. l just weeks before, they publicly released a video of a similar incident to engage in this coercive andf risky behavior so soon after that incident.

indeed for the operators to continue the behavior at all points to win it will describe as the centralized and concerted campaign. let me say that again, a centralized and concerted campaign in order to coerce the change in the u.s. operational activity and that of the u.s. allies and partners. we also witnessed pilots deliberately interfering with and creating turbulence for u.s. operators by flying in front of aircraft at close differences. photos from an incident in january 2020 to show the jet crossing in front of the lawfully operating u.s. assets at a distance of just 100 yards forcing the pilot to fly through the pla's wake hundreds of miles per hour at an altitude of tens of thousands of feet. may of this year as you know it released a video of an aircraft

speeding along a u.s. aircraft before cutting in front of it. you could even see the physical effects of the turbulence on the aircraft and the crew. this is yet another disturbing sign of the coercive and risky operational behavior at the time when the prc has declined our invitations to open lines of military to military communication at the seniormost levels. the images and videos speak for themselves. u.s. planes are operating safely, responsibly and in accordance with international law. the skill and the professionalism of american service members should not be the only thing standing between the pla fighter pilots and a dangerous even fatal accident. and yet, time after time that is exactly what has prevented disaster in the east and china seas. at the prc can and must and this behavior.de for our part of the department

will continue to raise awareness about the dangers of the coercive and risky operational behavior. weon will also continue to seek open lines of.a communication at multiple levels including the seniormost level because we believe these channels are crucial for preventing competition from inadvertently veering into conflict. finally the united states will not be detoured or coerced. we will continue to fly, fail and operate safely and responsibly wherever international law allows. the forces help sustain peace and stability in the indo pacific for decades and we will continue to do so every day. so i hope today's announcement can help increase understanding here in washington, across the indo pacific and around the world about why the pla's operational behavior is so concerning. thank you and i will turn over to the admiral before we open it up to questions. >> thanks. good to see you. thanks for inviting me and to all of the when the audience

i've spoken to many of you but i'm honored to be year and i think you for participating. he talked about the perspective into thein challenges that exist as it applies to the prc activity described in the report. i am here to talk about these concerns from my perspective as a commander of u.s. indo pay calm. first let me start by stating that the servicemembers of indo pay calm or uniform members, civilian warriors, every day operate in order to prevent conflict. that is prevent conflict, not provoke it. now, we do that in order to execute our functions and missions and that is to maintain a free and open indo pacific. that free and open indo pacific enables peace, prosperity and stability for all the nations in the region and we've done that for eight decades. pay calm detours conflict by being ready every day, whether

it is a war fighting capability, operations, relationships with our allies and partners and exercises. let me point out the joint force is highly trained, disciplined andne professional. the air operations are planned, rehearsed and executed safely every day. as the joint force commander i'm most concerned about the potential for accidents the way the doctor explained them and of those accidents could lead to miscalculation. we must prevent these from happening in the theater. so, let me be clear, intercepts happen every day aroundar the world. the vast majority are conducted safely and without incident. and there's no reason for the intercept with the prc in the indo pacific region to be any different. i'm here today because it's the

operational commander's number one responsibility to ensure the safety of our servicemembers, and it's a responsibility i take very seriously so highlighting these behaviors and ensuring we can prevent them is a top priority. i want to thank you again for allowing me to be here today and i look forward to your questions. >> a quick note at the top i ask you keep your questions to this topic and then we will brief after. >> given the new conflict, how concerned are you you will not have the assets you need to given that there's not too carriers monitoring how are you able to continue to deter china if all the assets we had to essentially go to another central command conflict and given that there is also now a second conflict, have you been able to speak to any of your

partners or allies about increasing production to get more sense now both israel and ukraine will need them? >> so, thanks. let me start first it is incredibly sad to watch the actions of the terrorists in the middle east. it's also sad to watch the illegitimate a legal war in ukraine that's been initiated by thet russians. as it applies to the indo pacific and my responsibilities, but i will tell you is i haven't had one piece of equipment or force structure depart. the united states is a global power and that means we can deliver affects and execute the deterrence responsibilities across the globe. i don't think any other nation can do that at this time, but the united states can. by the way, the indo pacific command has two aircraft carriers right now and see as well along with a large portion

of the joint force executing deterrence missions. >> may be ibe will follow up. i'm going to stay away from the questions of issues related to other theaters and discussions of allies and partners but what i will say about this question of what is the events in other parts of the world mean for our policy s and strategy in the ino pacific and as it relates to the prc which is we have a 2022 2022national defense strategy wt is described as the department's challenge that remains true today, we have a presidential budget request for the department that reflects that strategy. a strategy driven budget, and we have been in addition to those investments developing new operational concepts relevant to the region. we have been developing a more mobile distributed lethal and

we've had a better year in that regardas over the last 12 montha lot of great work in concert with indo pay calm from japan, the philippines down through australia and in the meantime, we've been deepening our alliances and partnerships in the region and to a t the key alliances and partnerships in the region are stronger than they havee ever been. as a result of that activity, you've likely heard the department leaders say repeatedly we believe deterrence is real and strong and we are doing everything we cang to kep it that way.. >> is there concern in the region that while engaging in both ukraine and israel, there might be reduced capability to meet whatever threat is faced in the same countries by china? >> like i said we've been taking a number of steps to strengthen our deterrentss to the region ad we will continue to do that.

>> have you seen any indications or intel with the chinese looking at this period of not distraction but to just focus on the middle east and is an opening for a potential invasion of taiwan but operations again? how many of these are unsafe and/or unprofessional? because that has been the way we've measured the behaviors. it seems suggestive. >> thanks. i'm certainly not going to discuss any intel that i've seen. buti i will say is historically all nations look at what's going on in the geopolitical space and military space and i would expect there to be lessons learned. indo pay calm her fears every day to ensure we execute both of the missions the secretary gave me. number one to prevent conflict in the indo pacific and number two if mission one fails be

prepared to fight and win. so, those actions go on each and every day in indo pay calm and we would expect all nations to be watchingld these actions and determining how that best fits in to their future. that'shi it. my forces already today. >> in response to your question, look, we have a very specific set of criteria that we've used to articulate and describe particular behaviors that are classified. it should remain classified and what we are presenting today is a set of activities that we believe exhibit observable behavior and that we've catalogued along the lines that i've described. i understand the desire for exactly how many of these, what is the number. one is too many. that's our view at the department. what we've provided and we will be on the pentagon website if it

isn't already we will be 15 specific instances cataloguing over this period from the fall of 2021 through today the most 20recent case in september and every one of these is one too many. >> [inaudible] how do you strengthen the cooperation in north korea, china and russia? >> thank you. first, we watch very closely the cooperation and certainly the concern from indo pay calm as the statement of the no limits

relationship between the prc and russia, the inability to denounce bad actions globally, and of the increased cooperation exercises and we watch it very closely. so the authoritarian powers working that closely together certainly is concerning. second on north korea and russia with the transfer of weapons and capabilities that you've cnn have been written about in the media is also of concern. so, the region is more dangerous and be able to more closely. >> [inaudible] >> you're going to have to ask my counterparts in china. as i've been on the record before, i've asked to speak to my counterparts going on two and a half years. i've yet to have one of those

requests accepted and i look forward to speaking to my counterparts. i think developing that relationship would be critical to maintaining the peace and stability in the region. >> they are talking about focusing on intercepts in the air. i know there've been some instances and videos shared by others. is there a similar trend you're seeing on the water? >> maybe i will take that first and pass it over. absolutely yes this is part of a broader pattern of pla behavior throughout the region, with her about domains and throughout the geographies that weou are seeing this behavior on the water, in the east and the south china sea and against allies and partners not just in the united states but on land against our indian partners, so this is part of a much broader picture.

what we wanted to do today was focus on this particular set provides some information and some data and this particular issue is one we've spoken about with counterparts when he's had the opportunity to do that. if you want to talk about the broader regional picture. >> incidence in the matter of time that are concerning. we released one not long ago when they were transiting through the taiwan strait and pla ship cut directly in front of the united states ship. that's one example. there are more. the best i would to say if you look at what the philippines have released most recently as ity applies to utilizing fire hoses and attempt to blocking their movement it's similar to the air domain.

>> is there any indication of communication between the u.s. and allied pilots, drivers and with the chinese? is a one-way conversation or any conversation? also is this being run by the chinese government or more lower level military? >> i would go with what the doctor talked about asat part of the report. it assesses that this is part of a strategy. point number two, the first thing we do at all points in the operationalac space is an attemt to communicate to ensure both parties understand what are we doing, what's our intent to ensure we can avoid any type of accident. that's always step one. sometimes that communication happens, sometimes it doesn't. and there's i think video or

audio into videos that articulate. there is expensive claims that are not in accordance with international law. but the united states attempts to communicate and ensure we understand intent. >> are you saying it's classified [inaudible] >> i was describing the very specific criteria that we use around of these and some of the data is classified in fact what you are seeing today is the result of months and months of efforts to declassify and sanitize for public release, so wewe don't think it's in our interest to get into very specifical details about the nature of all these incidents

because how the other countries may use that information. so we are not prepared to go beyond the data that we are releasing here but to emphasize that we believe we are providing a significant amount of transparency into the event today. >> we've had some stand at the podium and tell us that nothing has happened. >> and you've done that on a case-by-case basis? this was about a specific summary data about all of the events. we are not prepared to share that today. >> the 180 that you referenced, just coercive? that is, it's language we've known for a long time and that is a w characterization a lot of us are familiar with. how do, i guess i'm having a

hard time equating how do you take that into the information and how we've characterized these sort of things and reporting in the past? i'm not going to get into additional labels. >> let me take a shot at it. when you get to unsafe and unprofessional, that's concerning behavior. people's lives are at risk. we have seen then those and a cockpit. so in other words, flying off my wing 15 minutes has. we've seen a close increase in those intercepts and a very close proximity to our airplanes. a subset of those have been

unsafe, unprofessional. >> we will take one more question. >> let me provide you an articulation of the criteria. to release the behavior to the public, we have the understanding of what the chinese are doing? >> i would say our position is there story to tell. those are there. we believe transparencyy around this is important foror a better understanding about this behavior. >> i would say all those things you heard about and publicized from other nations have been publicized from other nations. what i think they show is the linkage to.

this is many allies and partners having to deal with it in the region.th as of again, to his point, one accident. we went through it to 2001 and the operational commanders to do everything possible to ensure we can protectth the aircrew. in international airspace in the region that's the rules-based international order that you hear us talk about so frequently. >> i know we have a lot of questions but that's all the time we have for today. >> i'm sorry i couldn't get to everyone's questions today. i know there were a lot, but have to be respectful of folks

time. as part of our continued engagement withnt our counterparts, secretary alston spoke with the ministry of defense out the operations attack. they've been on a basis since the attack and willxp reconnecto soon. the secretary reiterated that america's support for israel and security remains ironclad and emphasized the importance of safety as well as the humanitarian crisis in gaza. hamas specifically and indiscriminately targeted civilians and was barbaric in its cruelty reminiscent of isis attacks. this was terrorism and it's in s clearest sense. hamas doesn't speak for the palestinian people and we

continue under which they may not be deliberately targeted. the department remains focused on three objectives, supporting defense, sending a strong signal of deterrence to any actors who might be thinking and vigilance to any threats or forces in the region. we are actively -- secretary alston visited an airbase in israelel to see the latest survival on friday of security assistance. including munitions to meet israel's urgent needs. with that, secretary alston issued a prepared. district of increases the ability to respond quickly to the evolving security environment in the middle east. should the president the united states would be in the position

to deploy additional air defense with medical intelligence reconnaissance and transportation and a capable into the theater but no decisions have been made to deploy any of the forces at this time. it only puts the forces, the units on higher alert. the secretary will continue to force the foster and remain in close contact with allies and partners. also, yesterday secretary alston approved the extension of the. along with sending aircraft into the region shows our seriousness and commitment to deterrence. and last, the 26th marine expeditionary unit is moving to the region. the 26th new is an adaptable military force composed of a vision tree and the logistics components operating under one command. positioned at sea, the 26 is

equipped to respond to crises and engage in limited continuously operations across a spectrum. and with that, i would be happy to take your questions. why don't you start us off. >> thanks. i want to ask about. i want to know if there's any indications that this was an. does that change the u.s. second, can you discuss the arrival on the continuing package for ukraine and where they are possibly being w sourcd from? >> i've seen the reports of the strike that you are referring to our the hospital that was hit. i am aware but i don't have anything to the altar at this

time. the secretary as i mentionedr s been in regular contact. emphasizing that the law of the world is being upheld and that isn't something that's been consistently delivered in. iju just don't have more on thoe reports. [inaudible] >> i'm not going to preview on any packages we are putting together for the ukrainians. it's something we are regularly consulting with what they need, but i'm not going to preview anythingpr that might be includd in future packages and whether they. can the department identify the

units that the 2,000 servicemembers are in and one of the missions is a noncombatant operation. is that why it's been sent. they do not have orders. they are there so the secretary and the president can make a decision if they are needed. they are in the region but i'm not going to get into specific operational details at this time. can youpe repeat the first question? >> in terms of the units, again this was a decision there ready to deploy order came down from the secretary. it's up to the commanders to start sourcing the units to find out but the units have been to

go to and identifying yet. >> this is just the secretary made the decision by the orders themselves and which units are going to be selected have not been selected yet, so i don't have that fullest yet. on the use, [inaudible] there's been an attack against the hospital, massive hundreds of casualties. you won't be involved in any war crimes? >> what i will say is exactly what you just mentioned, what you said. we do not put any preconditions on israel when it comes to using our securitysi assistance.

from the beginning, but we have said is that governments like us, this is what separates us from hamas. we certainly expect israel as with any ally or partner to uphold the law. it should be very clear that hamas is putting palestinians or those in gaza at great risk putting the command and control units inside hospitals and areas where there are innocent civilians. so the fact that they've set up command centers just shows the brutality they are willing to engage on antabuse civilians as a way to mask their operations but also to see them as casualties. that's not how we come out the help thesecretary in his convers with the minister, we've always emphasized that it will be

upheld. >> [inaudible] we are in constant communication with h the israelis and we've sn them i think be very deliberate about where they are striking, continuing to target hamas. you would expect them to follow the rule of law that israel has ba very long history of targetg arand killing. we saw this morning. i get the point you're trying to make that that is the expectation that went on to say given your history even though you are in ally, we will crack you in the way we crack other countries. why notco have the same guidelis in place? >> we feel confident in our

discussions that the secretary has had. use all the secretary was back for a second time in less than a week. the president is going to israel today. these are certainly things that will be discussed but we didn't put preconditions on israel when it came to providing security assistance. we feel that israel is should and will follow the law of war protecting innocent civilians and directly targeting with these known terrorists are.. >> there's evidence that they are not doing what you say they should be doing. okay we will now put in the restriction. >> in relation to the report, i've seen reports. i don't have any more detail to provide at this point.

i don't know who's responsible. we don't have all the facts. and i'm sure as we learn more, that one phone conversation, but right now i'm not going to go down the hypothetical road of who is responsible for something. we expect israel to uphold the law of war and our priorities are objective in supporting israel and making sure israel has everything it needs through the security assistance, sendini a strong message of deterrence that should any other act or think of entering the conflict that theyen think again and that we are being mindfully mindful andvigilant of any three u.s. forces. they've cut off water, food, electricity, to 2 million people in gaza. at the icc sees that is a violation of international law. so does the un. how does the administration.

>> we don't want to see any innocent civilians without water, power, the necessities they need to survive. >> [inaudible] >> we do know the water was turned back on in the southern part of gaza. we are continuing to engage and i making sure civilians have what they need and that they can clear out or -- tonight the president is flying to israel where i expect of course he will eyraise this issue. >> they thought it would be safe but israel -- if you want people to w move south you have to make it safe for them. >> that's something i can assure youha the secretary has been communicating. and it's having other calls in

the region to assure her to ensure i should say that innocent civilians within gaza, which includes american citizens, have a way to we are also urging them to turn on, like they did, water in the south part of gaza so civilians can't have access to that. i want to get a couple clarifications -- >> in relation to this attack? i'm not sure exactly. i wouldn't be able to speak to that. i haven't seen which hospital. again i haven't seen which hospital it was, so.

to determine what precisely happened at the site and why it was struck. >> i know the general is in the area but i would send you to -- >> israel is launching targeted strikes. but i think by any objective measure. why does the pentagon have so much confidencepe in the israeli intelligence to launch precise, accurate of the intelligence communityofof to see the threato israel leading to that october 7 attack. >> i'm not going to get into the specific intelligence and what the israelis can see now, but we are. we feel confident that we continue to share intelligence with of the israelis.

we feel confident that they will be delivered under targeting. the consistency is that they say civilians won't be targeted and yet we cannot get it clear what it's doing to make sure they were not targeted in this case and i'm looking for clarity on that. >> i'm not going to get into private conversations. i can tell you what i've heard consistently from the secretary and from the administration as we i expect all democracies like israel to uphold the law. it's an important and sets a us apart. on the subject to talk about, is

it. we have put conditions on ukrainians as itt relates. they are required to tell us where they've used them and keep a list of how they used them and what targets they have had. so do we trust. ukraine and israel are engaged in different wars right now. i would say that the way the. they are keeping track of where they are going. that is something for their own safety that they are doing in order to when they start clearing those, when they started taking back their territory to avoid.

[inaudible] >> can i just finished this? so again, israel is one of our oldest, longest partners and allies in the region. we are working with them very closely when it comes to providing them the security assistance that they need. i think james, we have to remember that this attack. they should respond to the enterrorists that killed innocet people. again, in our conversations we have been very clear that the israelis want to continue to uphold the law of war, they allow civilians. >> what is the pentagon doing to

ensure the safety of americans in gaza and have any members of the u.s. t and but embassy team gone in to help find the hostages separately. they haven't been cast with anything in particular, so they are there if needed. and as the secretary and the president'sat discretion for whatever. but they don't have orders and so at this time i'm not going to get into any operational details. on. as the u.s. doing anything to ensure the safety of americans andd giving any different guidance? >> the state department is taking the lead on that and continuing to engage to ensure

that american citizens do have a way of a safe. of course staying vigilant of any threats to the u.s. forces. >> two questions. will the u.s. conduct its own investigation c of the hostile explosion in gaza. >> i'm not going to get ahead of any investigations that have or have not been launched. >> and is it. if the decision is made to become involved? >> we of course would certainly consult with congress on any type of action that we would

take that involved his forces, but right now that is a hypothetical. our main goal by positioning not one, but the second carrier will be there soon is to send a message of deterrence, to say to actors in the region who think they might want to take advantage of the conflict, do not do that. this is not the time to do that. .. but you don't have information

on what happened and how united states uses hospitals for command centers. why did you feel you needed with that and if it's unclear what happened quick. >> i wouldn't say that i was trying to conflate the two by any means. i was just trying to be specific, more specific on the fact that hamas does integrate in a high civilian population when trying to set up command centers and places where, to be used for innocent civilians to be treated to be used for seeking medical care. i would not conflate or draw any comparison to the attack. i've only heard airport and i don't even know where it's located. i'm getting information from you as i'm standing up here so i wouldn't draw comparison. i was trying to show you that hamas is willing to use innocent civilians as human shields. i would be mindful of not trying

to draw any connection there and i don't have any details on what you're referencing. >> even before this is possible the attack happened here pezzoli has been targeted in workers and staff members have been killed. and thanks for correcting me. you say the pentagon does put conditions on how israel used u.s. security assistance. it's a matter of principle or is it the reality on the ground? is it a commitment what israel does -- is what israel does matters quick >> a course what israel does matter absolutely. absolutely this is a war and

absolutely the actions that are taken of course matter but that's why in our conversations the secretary and his administration were very clear about the loss and what it means and that's what dos santos aside from other nations around the world who do not follow that so again i think that we have been very clear from across their agencies about the incredible loss of life that we are seeing in israel and in gaza that we feel confident in our conversations withth the israels and we will continue to reiterate that the law of war must be upheld. >> to clarify in question given the preconditions you can't rule out how it's been used it's

entirely possible they've been used to kill civilians. >> that's a hypothetical and i won't get into it. >> setting aside that because we don't no, okay does not make your condition untenable and they are no preconditions in israel expects the position is becoming harder to sustain and facing the casualty rate that we face every day. >> i know i've said this many times. the secretary is having near daily conversations with israeli counterparts seeking to allies in the region. secretary of state was there and had an hours long conversation with the israelis and his h counterparts.

again we feel that the israeli military is capable and very professional military. and i know i've said this but what sets us apart from the world democracy is like art, it's not targeting and that is important and that's what you've you for the secretary contingency in this conversation and that's what we'll continue to say. >> ambassador u.s. weapons -- and will you change your position about non-conditionality brexit as i said that's a hypothetical and not going to get into that right now. >> i just want to ask you about the support to the ietf that they go in and is there any type of [inaudible]

or at any troops on the ground in israel. >> we have a small team that's been at the embassy that's been engaging with their ibf counterparts when it comes to hostage recovery or hostagee rescue. they are sharing in tobin should have been latched up with the israeli defense forces but in terms of intelligence and other additional operations i wouldn't get into that right now. >> are their shipments of that have a range of security assistance in israel so despite the october 12 and october 17 timeframe you're saying almost near daily deliveries into israel and i would expect those will continue.

>> can we get clarification on the security personnel quick for personnel that are preparing to deploy should the president make that call would they be part of u.s. deterrence or is it a reactionary force to iran and hezbollah and will there be additional support for israel. >> i would say in the question on deploying i want to make it clear they are not deploying and if they are it would be to search the region but what they are doing in terms of any type of planning again those decisions have not beennn made. what they would be focused on or who will be going would augment in the region airen defense, logistics medical intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance. spint it really quickly on russia. given update on chinese military support for russia quick

>> i don't. >> preparing to deploy isn't decision that the secretary will make. to move them out would be at the presidential level. >> the president doesn't have the pro secretary austin, it's the deployment has changed. >> it depends on how much [inaudible] what does the united states do have two standup for and why you

need the weapons from hamas. >> i haven't seen the reports so i can't offer a comment on that. >> on the question about the sensors i'm not seeking intelligence here i'm just asking you if you can't say yes or no have you seen evidence that hamas is using them as common centers and obviously you're adopting the israeli version of the story and if you didn't see this evidence you are justifying israel's targeting hospitals and if you can just say yes or no. >> i would not say we are justifying that by any means. we are certainly giving israel

the security assistance it needs to take out and to effectively push back on hamas b in gaza. again i will reiterate as many times as you want that does not mean the killing of innocent civilians. we expect and we have in our conversations the secretary and others in the administration have reiterated the absolute need to uphold the law. i again would not complete the two and when i walked up to the podium i just got a note about the reports at the hospital. i don't know where it's located and i don't know if hamas is a control center in it. all i know is in the past what we have seen from hamas is the same thing the scene is that theyma are willing to use human infrastructure to conceal and to hide behind in order to conduct their attacks.

israel is a very capable and professional military and people leave the security assistance that they are using in gaza is going to be used properly and is going to be used to target hamas but also allowing flexibility of innocent civilians to seek areas where they can go for humanitarian assistance. see that when you say properly what do you mean. >> like all democracies. and this will help to be the last one, i'm sorry. >> here if i -- you clarify that presidential decision. >> to select the unit. >> havets commanders selected units for the specific capabilities? i'm just trying to find out how much delegation to the

commanderss are already in how much is decided by the administration? been at the commanders will identify the units that will be prepared to deploy and if they are needed and if they are called to deploy that would be a decision that riseslo above. >> you're going to continue the assistant to israel for right now interceptor missiles are -- is that it quick >> i'm not going to get into more specifics on what else we are providing down. we are trying to make their requests as rapidly tennis quickly as we can. a course many of the things that have been reported are some the things they requested whether it's munitions or air defense systems. again we are working to meet their needs as quickly as we can we will continue to. i've got to wrap it up there, sorry.