This morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) posted a video on the social network X, showing the names and faces of people — old and young — taken hostage by the Palestinian military group Hamas. The faces were projected on the exterior wall of the United Nations headquarters in New York. It was a reminder to the world of the human cost of the Hamas attack on Israel.
Meanwhile, President of the United States Joe Biden said that Hamas was worse than al-Qaeda, the Islamic terrorist group that was behind the 9/11 attacks on the twin towers of New York City. So far, according to the official US estimate, at least 27 American citizens have died and 14 remain unaccounted for in the violence triggered by Hamas rockets attacks on Israel and ground infiltration of Israeli communities.
“The more we learn about the attack, the more horrifying it becomes. More than 1,000 innocent lives lost, including at least 27 Americans,” Biden said in Philadelphia yesterday. “These [Hamas] guys make… they make al-Qaeda look pure. They’re pure evil. Like I said from the beginning, the United States, make no mistake about it, stands with Israel.”
Stating that his administration was making sure Israel had what it needed to defend itself and respond to these attacks, Biden also said that it was his priority to urgently address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Israel is bombing Gaza nonstop in order to destroy all the Hamas operatives, and has also cut off food and energy supplies to Gaza until all the hostages taken from Israel are freed by Hamas.
“Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel yesterday, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is there today,” said Biden.
At his direction, said the president, American teams were working in the region, including communicating directly with the governments of Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab nations, and the United Nations as well to deal with the humanitarian situation.
“We can’t lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas and Hamas’s appalling attacks, and their suffering as a result, as well. This morning, I spoke with the family members of all those Americans who are still unaccounted for, on a Zoom call, for about an hour and 10-15 minutes,” said Biden.
“They’re going through agony, not knowing what the status of their sons, daughters, husbands, wives, and children are. You know, it’s gut-wrenching. I assured them my personal commitment to do everything possible — everything possible to return every missing American to their families.”
Biden asserted, “We’re not going to stop till we bring them home.”