‘An act of sheer evil’: Biden pledges support for Israel after attack
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WASHINGTON – United States President Joe Biden, his voice gripped with emotion, condemned the deadly attack against Israel by the Hamas militant group as “an act of sheer evil”, and stressed US support for Israelis mourning the slaughter of more than 1,000 people.
A visibly upset Mr Biden, in remarks at the White House, voiced concern for any Americans who may be held hostage by Hamas, the Iran-backed group that launched a surprise attack on Israel from Gaza last Saturday.
At least 14 Americans died
Mr Biden said Washington will share intelligence with Israel and deploy additional experts on hostage recovery.
Mr Sullivan said no American forces would be deployed on the ground.
The President stopped short of an overt plea to Israel to show restraint to avoid Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza as Israel girds for a possible ground offensive against Hamas.
But he said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a phone call on Tuesday, that militants intentionally target civilians while democracies like the US and Israel are “stronger and more secure when we act according to the rule of law”.
“There are moments in this life, and I mean this literally, when the pure unadulterated evil is unleashed on this world. The people of Israel lived through one such moment this weekend,” Mr Biden told reporters at the White House.
Mr Biden described what he called stomach-turning reports of parents butchered, babies being killed, entire families slain and women raped, assaulted and paraded as trophies.
He said Hamas had threatened to execute hostages, including survivors of the Nazi Holocaust, in violation of “every code of human morality”.
He said the group’s brutality and “blood thirstiness” was a reminder of the “worst rampages of ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria)”.
“This is terrorism, but sadly for the Jewish people, it is not new,” Mr Biden said.
The incident brought to the surface memories of anti-semitism and the genocide of the Jewish people, he added.
In an apparent reference to Iran and Iranian-backed groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Mr Biden said he had a message for any country or organisation thinking of taking advantage of the situation: “I have one word: Don’t.”
Israel pounded the Gaza Strip on Tuesday with the fiercest air strikes in its 75-year-old conflict with the Palestinians, razing whole districts despite a threat from Hamas militants to execute a captive for each home hit without warning.
Biden promises Israel support
Mr Biden spoke after his third phone call in four days with Mr Netanyahu, telling him if such an attack happened in the US, “our response would be swift, decisive and overwhelming”.
The President outlined the US military assistance being sent to help Israel in its fight, and said he would ask Congress to take urgent action.
The White House is considering submitting a request to Congress that would include military aid to both Ukraine and Israel, said a person familiar with the matter.
The White House said on Monday it expected to fulfil additional security requests from Israel as quickly as possible.
Mr Biden promised replenishment of interceptors used by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system as well as ammunition, in addition to redoubling US military presence in the region.
He also offered support for American Jews, and said they should be allowed to worship in peace in the US.
Mr Biden had said in September that anti-semitism in the US had risen to record levels.
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 US. REUTERS
