President Joe Biden (D) provided an update on the ongoing Israel war with Hamas, saying that now at least 14 Americans have been killed in the Hamas terror invasion of Israel and confirmed that Americans are being held hostage by Hamas.
Speaking during an October 10 press conference with Vice President Kamala Harris (D) and Secretary of State Antony Blinken standing behind him, Biden called the Hamas terror invasion “pure unadulterated evil” and pointed out that Hamas’ “stated purpose for being is to kill Jews.” “More than 1,000 civilians slaughtered––not just killed, slaughtered––in Israel,” Biden said. “Among them at least 14 American citizens killed. Parents butchered using their bodies to try to protect their children. Stomach turning reports of babies being killed. Entire families slain. Young people massacred while attending a musical festival to celebrate peace. Women raped, assaulted, paraded as trophies. Families hid their fear for hours and hours desperately trying to keep their children to avoid drawing attention. And thousands of wounded, alive but carrying with them bullet holes and the shrapnel wounds and the memory of what they endured.”
“These traumas never go away,” the president added.
Biden pointed out that Hamas is now threatening to execute hostages “in violation of every code of human morality.” “The brutality of Hamas … brings to mind the worst rampages of ISIS,” he added. “This is terrorism. But sadly, for the Jewish people this is not new.” The president recounted how Jews have experienced antisemitism and genocide for thousands of years.
“In this moment, we must be crystal clear: we stand with Israel,” Biden declared. “We stand with Israel. We will make sure that it has what it needs to take care of its citizens, defend itself and respond to this attack. There is no justification for terrorism.” He proceeded to denounce Hamas’ stated goal to destroy Israel and kill Jews and added that Hamas “uses Palestinian civilians as human shields.” “Hamas offers nothing but terror and bloodshed with no regard for who pays the price,” Biden said.
Biden announced that he had just finished a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he told Netanyahu that America would have a “swift, responsive and overwhelming” response if the United States experienced a terror attack akin to what happened to Israel on Saturday and that America would “uphold the laws of war.”
The president said his administration will be asking Congress to provide additional military aid to Israel. “This is not about party or politics,” Biden said. “This is about the security of our world, security of the United States of America.”
He added that “we now know that American citizens are among those being held by Hamas” and that his administration his consulting and advising with the Israelis on efforts to rescue the hostages. “As president, I have no higher priority than the safety of Americans being held hostage around the world,” Biden said.
Biden announced that the U.S. strengthened “our deterrence” in the region by moving the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean “and bolstered our fighter aircraft presence” and could bring in more military assets if need be.
“Let me say again to any country, any organization, anyone thinking of taking advantage of the situation, I have one word: don’t,” Biden declared. “Our hearts may be broken, but our resolve is clear.”
Domestically, Biden said that police have ramped up security in “around centers for Jewish life” and that federal law enforcement is working with state and local law enforcement and the Jewish community “to identify and disrupt any domestic threat that could emerge in connection to these horrific attacks.”
“This is a moment for the United States to come together, to agree with those who are mourning,” Biden said. “There is no place for hate in America. Not against Jews, not against Muslims, not against anybody … what we reject is terrorism. We condemn indiscriminate evil, just as we have always done. That’s what America stands for.”
The president called Israel as the “guarantor for the security of Jewish people around the world so the atrocities of the past could never happen again.” “Let there be no doubt: the United States has Israel’s back,” Biden declared. “We will make sure the Jewish and democratic state of Israel can always defend itself, today, tomorrow as we always have. It’s as simple as that.”
He did not take any questions.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.