The president said at least 14 Americans have died in the attacks, while pledging to support Israel in its ‘duty to respond.’
An emotional President Joe Biden Tuesday denounced the “sheer evil” of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, where at least 14 Americans are dead and others are being held hostage. All told, some 20-plus U.S. citizens are still missing, and at least 1,800 people have died in the fighting.
“There are moments in this life … when the pure, unadulterated evil is unleashed on this world,” Biden said, his face pained as he talked about the “stomach-turning reports of babies being killed, entire families slain … women raped, assaulted, paraded as trophies,” Biden said in remarks at the White House.
“At this moment we must be crystal clear: We stand with Israel. We stand with Israel,” the president repeated, with Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken standing behind him. “There is no justification for terrorism.”
“There is no excuse. Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination,” he added, separating the human rights struggles of the Palestinians in Israel from the Iran-backed militant group dubbed a terrorist organization by the United States and other countries.
Biden said U.S. ally Israel would be assured “whatever it needs” to take care of its citizens and respond to the attack. Israel, he said after a lengthy call with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday, had the right to defend itself in a manner that is “swift, decisive and overwhelming.”
The president said there are now 14 Americans who have died in the air, ground and sea assault from Hamas. In the first public acknowledgement that some Americans are likely being held by Hamas, Biden said, “As president, I have no higher priority than the safety of Americans being held hostage around the world.”
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“Like every nation in the world, Israel has the right to respond and indeed has a duty to respond to these vicious attacks.”
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters later that “20 or more” American are missing. He said the United States is helping with intelligence and experts to assist in the hostage rescue efforts.
Sullivan said the missing are not necessarily among the hostages Hamas is holding and reportedly threatening to execute, as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered an “all out siege” of Gaza, the densely-populated coastal area where Palestinians reside.
“Sadly and tragically, the number of dead has risen with each passing hour,” Sullivan told reporters at a briefing at the White House. “We do not know the number of hostages we have at this time.”
Israel’s military said Tuesday the border is under control, and the focus would be on targeting leaders of Hamas. The task is complicated because of the hostages, and because Israel cannot be sure Hamas members are not hiding somewhere, waiting to attack more Israeli citizens.
The Israeli government has called up 300,000 of military reservists to defend itself from what has been described as an historically barbaric and brutal attack.
Blinken is headed to Israel Wednesday to get an update and to see how the United States can assist. The USS Gerald R. Ford, thousands of sailors and a deck of warplanes already have been sent to the eastern Mediterranean.
Biden said the U.S. military presence is not to counter Hamas, but to warn other groups and countries not to exploit the crisis for their own objectives.
“Let me say again to any country, any organization, anyone thinking of taking advantage of this situation, I have one word: Don’t. Don’t. Our hearts may be broken, but our resolve is clear,” the president said.
He said he would be asking Congress for funding to help Israel, and also suggested he would ask for more assistance for Ukraine – a less-popular mission for many Republicans who say the money would be better spent at home.
Sullivan and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre would not say whether aid to Ukraine and Israel would be put in the same package. Sullivan dismissed the idea that the United States had to choose which country to help.
If the United States did not step in now to thwart Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, it would end up costing more later, after Putin conquered Ukraine and set his territorial sights further afield, Sullivan said.
“We firmly reject the notion that the United States of America cannot at once support the freedom-loving people of Ukraine and support the state of Israel,” he said.
Biden and Jean-Pierre also said American authorities were on the alert for domestic threats that could come following the attack on Israel.
“Let’s be real clear. There is no place for hate in America. Not against Jews, not against Muslims, not against anybody. We reject terrorism,” Biden said.