US President Joe Biden pledged his country’s unwavering support to the Jewish state as he condemned Hamas’ ISIS-like “slaughtering” of nearly 1,000 civilians including 14 Americans in an assault against southern Israel on Saturday that sparked a new Gaza war.
“There are moments in this life, when pure unadulterated evil is unleashed on this world,” Biden said from the White House on Tuesday night.
He spoke as Israel reeled from revelations that Hamas had decapitated babies and burned bodies in the southern border community of Kfar Aza during its assault against that community on Saturday.
“This is what they mean by human tragedy, an atrocity at an unprecedented scale, he said. “It brings to mind the worse rampages of ISIS.. sadly for the Jewish people it’s not new. This attack has brought to the surface painful memories, scars left by a millennium of antisemitism and genocide of the Jewish people,” he added.
“In this moment,” he said, “we must be crystal clear, we stand with Israel.”
There is no excuse for Hamas’ killing, he said, explaining that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination, he said. “Its stated purpose is the annihilation of the state of Israel and the murder of the Jewish people,” he said.
Biden said he had spoken to Netanyahu, his third such conversation since Saturday, and promised that the US would do everything it could to assist Israel including sending ammunition and Iron Dome interceptors.
He warned Israel’s enemies, who might be thinking of taking advantage of the situation, “I have one word, don’t.
Congress will be asked to provide funds to Israel and intelligence teams will work with Israel to help retrieve the hostages, he said. Americans are believed to be among the more than 100 people kidnapped by Hamas.
“I have no higher priority than the safety of American hostages,” Biden said.
The Department of Homeland Security and Federal agencies are working with state and local law enforcement forces to take steps to protect Jewish communities in the US, he said.
Israel pounded the Gaza Strip on Tuesday with the fiercest air strikes in its 75-year-old conflict with the Palestinians, razing whole districts to dust despite a threat from Hamas terrorists to execute a captive for each home hit. It is estimated that Hamas has over 100 captives, including seniors and children.
Israel’s embassy in Washington said the death toll from Hamas’ weekend attacks had surpassed all modern Islamist attacks on the West since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
The Biden administration has been particularly concerned that the Hamas war against Israel that began on Saturday will turn into a multi-front regional war, a fear that appeared to be on its way to reality as Israel also faced attacks on its northern border from Hezbollah. Both Hamas and Hezbollah are Iranian proxy groups.
The US has already announced that it plans to move an aircraft carrier close to Israel and expand its fleet of jets in the region. The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that the US was weighing the deployment of a second carrier near the Jewish State.
“Planes have already taken off,” the US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to Pentagon reporters.
“We are surging support to Israel... We remain in constant ongoing contact with our counterparts in Israel to determine and then support their most urgent requirements.”
The United States does not plan to put American military forces on the ground, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. Israel has called up an unprecedented 300,000 of its own reservists. It is, however, looking to fulfill Israeli requests for equipment and funding.
US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Brown Jr. spoke on Monday with the Chief of the Israeli General Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzl Halevi, the Pentagon said, adding they discussed Hamas’ attack and steps to strengthen US military posture in the region.
Brown warned Iran not to get involved in the crisis in Israel and said he did not want the conflict to broaden.
Asked what his message for Iran was, Brown said: “Not to get involved.”
“We want to send a pretty strong message. We do not want this to broaden and the idea is for Iran to get that message loud and clear,” Brown told a small group of reporters traveling with him to Brussels.
The official also appeared to dismiss concerns that the United States might struggle to supply Israel at the same time that it funnels weaponry to Ukraine.
“We are able to continue our support both to Ukraine, to Israel, and maintain our own global readiness,” the official said.
Western leaders issue statement of support for Israel
The leaders of the US, Germany, Britain, France and Italy issued a joint statement on Monday condemning the attacks on Israel by the Hamas terrorist group and expressed their “steadfast and united support” for Israel.
“Over the coming days, we will remain united and coordinated, together as allies, and as common friends of Israel, to ensure Israel is able to defend itself, and to ultimately set the conditions for a peaceful and integrated Middle East region,” said the statement by Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.