US defence chief says Israel creating future Palestinian 'insurgents'

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday that Israel was creating the next generation of Palestinian "insurgents" because of civilian casualties. 

Speaking to reporters in Rome, Austin said he raised the humanitarian crisis in Gaza with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant.

"Failure to do that will create a generation of Palestinians that really will continue to resist cooperating with Israel in the future. So you're actually increasing the numbers of insurgents ... if you fail to do that," Austin said.