President Joe Biden delivered a dramatic address on Tuesday promising to stand with Israel and denouncing the ‘unadulterated evil’ of terrorist attacks which killed more than 1,000 people, including 14 Americans, over the weekend.
Biden’s remarks come three full days since he put out a short video following the initial attack Saturday. He has been criticized for a sluggish response to the crisis, hosting a barbecue for staff on Sunday and not appearing in public on Monday.
But he broke his silence with a speech dripping with anger at the horrors unleashed by Hamas terrorists and warned that U.S. citizens were also among civilians captured by the gunmen.
‘You know there are moments in this life — I mean this literally — when a pure, unadulterated evil is unleashed on this world,’ he said Tuesday afternoon, flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
‘The people of Israel, lived through one such moment this weekend.’
U.S. President Joe Biden, accompanied by Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, makes remarks after speaking by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Biden was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris and senior security officials for a call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in the Situation Room before delivering his speech
The president described the many atrocities committed at the hands of Hamas.
‘Parents butchered using their bodies to try to protect their children,’ he said.
‘Stomach turning reports of babies being killed. Entire families slain.
‘Young people massacred while attending a musical festival to celebrate peace … to celebrate peace … women raped, assaulted, paraded as trophies.’
Israel pounded the Gaza Strip on Tuesday with the fiercest air strikes in its 75-year-old conflict with the Palestinians, turning districts to dust despite a threat from Hamas militants to execute a captive for each home hit.
Biden addressed the nation after holding his third phone call in four days with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
‘I told him, ‘If the United States experienced what you’re experiencing, our response would be swift decisive and overwhelming,’ Biden said during his remarks Tuesday afternoon.
He continued to detail his conversation with Netanyahu, saying they discussed how democracies worldwide are ‘more secure when we act according to the rule of law.’
A day earlier, the White House said it expected to fulfill additional security requests from Israel as quickly as possible.
The president noted that Israel has the ‘right to respond – indeed has a duty to respond to these vicious attacks’ and the U.S. is already assisting the nation.
Biden said in his remarks that that the U.S. has ‘enhanced our military force posture in the region to strengthen our deterrence.’
‘The Department of Defense has moved the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the eastern Mediterranean and bolstered our fighter aircraft presence. And we stand ready to move in additional assets as needed.’
Biden notably skipped explicitly mentioning Iran during his address, but warned hostile actors of taking ‘advantage’ of the situation.
‘Let me say again, any country, any organization anyone thinking of taking advantage of situation? I have one word, don’t.’
The White House has been cautious about laying direct blame on Iran for the attack which has killed over 1,000 Israelis.
Yesterday, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby only went as far as to say Iran is ‘complicit’ in Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel.
The United States does not plan to put American military forces on the ground, Kirby also told reporters.
Biden went on to say he plans to ask Congress to quickly approve additional funding for the security of American allies.
‘When Congress returns, we’re going to ask them to take urgent action to fund the national security requirements of our critical partners,’ Biden said.
‘This is not about party or politics. It’s about the security of our world, the security of the United States of America.’
This ask may prove more challenging than usual as the House of Representatives just ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and a power vacuum remains. Infighting within the GOP may drag out the process to confirm a new House leader for days.
And the House cannot move any legislation to the floor without a speaker in place.
Biden also confirmed that there are Americans being held by Hamas as hostages in Gaza.
‘We now know that American citizens are among those being held by Hamas,’ he said without providing additional detail.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan also revealed to reporters immediately following Biden’s remarks that there are 20 Americans who remain missing in Israel.
He noted that doesn’t mean they all have been captured by Hamas, and that they are just not accounted for.
People mourn at the graveside of Eden Guez, who was killed a festival that was attacked by Hamas gunmen that left at least 260 people dead, at her funeral in Ashkelon, in southern Israe
Rockets fired from the Gaza City (R) being intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome defence missile system (L) on October 10, 2023
Israel has called up an unprecedented 300,000 of its own reservists.
Biden and Netanyahu, despite differences on the way forward in the Middle East, have been thrust into a wartime partnership following the multipronged attack by Hamas militants from Gaza into Israel.
Israel’s embassy in Washington said the death toll from Hamas’ weekend attacks had surpassed 1,000, dwarfing all modern Islamist attacks on the West since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Biden also address the potential of threats within the U.S., saying additional security measures especially at houses of worship are being put in place.
“We’re also taking steps at home, in cities across the United States of America. Police departments have stepped up security around centers of Jewish life,’ he said.
‘The Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are working closely with state and local law enforcement and Jewish community partners to identify and disrupt any domestic threat that could emerge in connection with these horrific attacks,’ the president continued.
Immediately after the president’s address, the State Department revealed that Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be traveling to Israel ‘in the coming days’ in order to directly engage with Israeli partners.
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