United States President Joe Biden confirms that Americans were among the hostages taken by Hamas militants and those who the terrorists' attack on Israel has killed.
The Democrat's remarks on Tuesday noted that Hamas militants killed at least 14 US citizens during the weekend assaults in southern Israel. He added that he likened Hamas to ISIS and blasted the group as "sheer evil."
Biden Address Israel-Palestine Conflict
The US president did not say how many American citizens were among the roughly 150 people believed to have been taken hostage by the Hamas militant forces. Additionally, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said moments later that the number remains murky.
The hostages were allegedly taken to Gaza, which the Hamas militant group has controlled since 2007, following a series of morning raids by air, land, and sea on Saturday. During the assaults, the terrorists slaughtered more than 1,000 civilians and Israeli military troops, as per the New York Post.
In his statement, Biden said he had directed his team to share intelligence and deploy additional experts from the United States government to consult with and advise Israeli counterparts on efforts to recover hostages. He said that as the president of the US, he has no higher priority than the safety of the American citizens who are held hostage worldwide.
The Democrat gave a roughly 10-minute speech, which was made after remaining out of public view on Monday and Sunday. Biden did not take any questions from the press, and he previously addressed the Israeli crisis in a three-minute speech on Saturday before the full scale of the conflict became clear.
The president also did not address calls from Republican lawmakers to halt releasing $6 billion in unfrozen assets to Iran, which some have claimed drove the Hamas militants to conduct the assaults on Israel.
Amid the conflict, Israeli soldiers successfully retook two dozen towns and villages near Gaza from Hamas militant forces. However, the devastation left by the terrorists was evident, as in Kfar Aza, lifeless bodies littered the streets. According to the New York Times, Israeli soldiers used stretchers to clean up the mess of dead bodies in the area.
Pledging Support for Israel
The Israeli military also noted that it had since recovered the bodies of roughly 1,500 Palestinian assailants since the start of the conflict. The announcement offered one of the first clear indications of the size of the attack.
The United States government pledged its full support for the upcoming Israeli offensive as American officials seek to play down the prospects for massive humanitarian consequences. It comes despite growing concerns about civilians in Gaza losing access to food and water and becoming collateral damage in the raging conflict.
The Israeli military was forced to summon 360,000 reservists to fight in the war against the Hamas militants, which marks the largest mobilization since the 1973 Yom Kippur War. According to the Washington Post, roughly 4% of the Middle Eastern country's population of 9.8 million left their regular jobs and their families to respond to the military orders and join the fight.
