Biden condemns ‘evil’ attack on Israel, vows support
Confirms about 20 Americans may be hostages
WASHINGTON — The White House confirmed on Tuesday that about 20 Americans remained missing and may be held hostage by Hamas as President Biden issued a scathing condemnation of the attack on Israel and vowed to stand by the embattled Middle East ally without equivocation.
Biden bristled with indignation during a 10-minute statement at the White House after speaking with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, appearing as angry as he has in public since becoming president. He denounced the attack as “evil” multiple times and used words and phrases like “atrocities,” “sickening,” “abhorrent,” “brutality,” and “violation of every code of human morality” to describe it.
“This was an act of sheer evil,” Biden said in the State Dining Room. “More than 1,000 civilians slaughtered — not just killed, slaughtered — in Israel, among them at least 14 American citizens killed. Parents butchered using their bodies trying to protect their children, stomach-turning reports of babies being killed, entire families slain, young people massacred while attending a music festival to celebrate peace. To celebrate peace! Women raped, assaulted, paraded as trophies.”
The president, who was flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, confirmed without elaboration that at least some of the people seized by Hamas during its lightning blitz over the weekend were American citizens in addition to the 14 Americans known to have been killed. “We now know that American citizens are being held by Hamas,” Biden said.
Jake Sullivan, his national security adviser, later told reporters that “20 or more” Americans were unaccounted for, though it is not yet clear how many of them are in the hands of Hamas. He said the government is in regular contact with their families.
Sullivan said some stocks of interceptors kept in Israel had already been released for use and that more shipments of ammunition and other weapons would be on the way. “You can expect American planes flying into Israel,” he said.
Sullivan offered nothing but supportive words and said the administration did not plan to lecture Israel about how to defend itself. But in a nod to concerns about Palestinian civilians caught up in the war, he suggested that the United States was working on a way to allow Gazans to escape the punishing Israeli airstrikes.
“I’m not going to get into the details of that, about a specific crossing or so forth,” he said. “Only to say that that is something we are focused on and we are working on.”
Biden spoke before cameras shortly after he and Harris wrapped up a call with Netanyahu in which they repeated their vow to support Israel. It was Biden’s third conversation with Netanyahu since the attack began on Saturday.
In addition to dispatching the first shipment of military equipment to Israel, the president has deployed ships and warplanes closer to the area in hopes of deterring Iran, Hezbollah, or any other force from escalating the war. Sullivan said Congress would be asked to approve more aid.
The president made no effort to urge restraint from Israel as it responds. “Like every nation in the world, Israel has the right to respond, indeed has a duty to respond to these vicious attacks,” he said.
And he rejected suggestions that the attack was understandable if not justified given what critics consider to be Israel’s repression of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
“There’s no justification for terrorism,” he said flatly. “There’s no excuse. Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination. Its stated purpose is the annihilation of the state of Israel and the murder of Jewish people. They use Palestinian civilians as human shields. Hamas offers nothing but terror and bloodshed with no regard for who pays the price.”
During a briefing for reporters afterward, Sullivan made clear that the issue is personal for Biden, who has been a strong supporter of Israel for more than half a century. “You’ve heard his voice, and this has been a deeply emotional time for all of us,” Sullivan told reporters, his own face reddening and his voice thick with emotion. “All of us have developed close relationships with our Israeli counterparts.”
Speaking of the president, Sullivan said, “He can hear the pain in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s voice when he talks with him.” He added: “This is not about policy or strategy. This is personal for us.”