Biden: “This was an act of sheer evil”
14 US citizens among the more than 1,000 civilians “slaughtered” in Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, Biden said. Some 20 American citizens currently still unaccounted for.
President Biden today called the Hamas terror attacks on Israel “an act of sheer evil,” that slaughtered more than 1,000 civilians, including at least 14 American citizens. He vowed that the United States would stand with Israel and ensure it has what it needs to protect its citizens and respond decisively against the Palestinian militant group, which controls the Gaza strip.
“This was an act of sheer evil,” Biden said in remarks from the White House today (Oct. 10), his second formal address on the shocking attacks since they occurred Saturday.
“We stand with Israel, and we will make sure it has what it needs, to take care of its citizens, defend itself, and respond to this attacks,” Biden said.
The United States is “surging additional military assistance, including ammunition and interceptors to replenish Iron Dome,” Biden said. “We’re going to make sure Israel does not run out of these critical assets.”
“The United States has also enhanced our military force posture in the region to strengthen our deterrence,” he said. “The Department of Defense has moved the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean and bolstered our fighter aircraft presence.
Without directly naming them, Biden also warned countries and proxy groups, including Iran and Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah, not to try to open an additional front in the conflict.
“Let me say again, to any country, any organization, anyone thinking of taking advantage of the situation: I have one word: Don't. Don't,” Biden said. “Hearts may be broken, but our resolve is clear.”
Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again today, the third time since the attacks Saturday. In a signal of the United States giving broad understanding to Israel to respond decisively against Hamas, Biden said he told Netanyahu if the United States experienced what Israel had, “our response would be swift, decisive and overwhelming.”
But Biden said he also encouraged upholding the laws of war. “We also discussed how democracies like Israel and the United States are stronger and more secure when we act according to the rule of law,” Biden said. Unlike terrorists, “we uphold the laws of war,” Biden said. “It matters.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel on Wednesday “to engage with our Israeli partners directly about the situation on the ground, and to discuss ways we can continue to support them in the fight against these terrorist attacks,” Blinken tweeted. “Our support for Israel remains unwavering.”
The movement of the U.S. carrier strike group to the region is not a signal that the United States intends to get directly involved in the Israeli war on Hamas, but to deter other countries and proxy groups in the region not to try to escalate tensions to take advantage of the current crisis, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said today.
“Let me be clear, we did not move the carrier for Hamas,” Sullivan said at a White House press briefing today. “We moved the carrier to send a clear message of deterrence to other states or non-state actors that might seek to widen this war.”
“Let me repeat what we've now said many times, and what the President said just a short while ago, so that everyone, including enemies who are thinking of exploiting the current situation, hear it loud and clear: The United States has always, and will always have Israel's back,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan, as other White House officials in recent days, said the United States does not currently have evidence that Iran played a specific role in directing or helping Hamas plan the Oct. 7 terror attacks, but said Iran is broadly complicit for its role over the years and decades providing material support to Hamas.
“Look, we've said since the beginning that Iran is complicit in this attack in a broad sense, because they have provided the lion's share of the funding for the military wing of Hamas,” Sullivan said. “As to the question of whether Iran knew about this attack in advance or helped plan or direct this attack, we do not, as of the moment…. have confirmation of that.”
“We are talking to our Israeli counterparts on a daily basis about this question,” Sullivan said. “We're looking back through our intelligence holdings to see if we have any further information on that... But as I stand here today, while Iran plays this broad role—a sustained, deep and dark role--in providing all of this support and capabilities to Hamas, in terms of this particular gruesome attack on October 7, we don't currently have that information, we will continue to look for it.”
While Iran has “broad complicity based on the long standing support that [it has given] Hamas,…we don't have specific information that ties Iran to this attack,” Sullivan later said. “At this time, we don't have that information.”
Regarding militia groups across the region, “We do believe that they pose an urgent threat and that it is certainly distinctly possible that they choose to try to exploit or take advantage of this situation, and we have been sending clear warnings that doing so will result in a firm response, [and] consequences from the United States,” Sullivan said. “And we have been clear also in sending a message of deterrence through the movement of the carrier strike group into the eastern Mediterranean, as well as through the assurance that we will sustain F-16, F-35s, and A-10s [fighter jets] in theater to be able to deal with any contingency that the United States might have to deal with in the days ahead.”
Israeli Iran expert Raz Zimmt also assessed that Hamas probably acted on its own.
“There is no doubt about the military cooperation between Iran and Hamas, and Iran's increasing involvement in the Palestinian arena, including the West Bank, in recent years,” Zimmt, with Tel Aviv University and the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), an Israeli think tank, wrote in an analysis posted on Twitter Oct. 8. “I highly doubt whether Iran was significantly involved in Hamas's latest action. This is a Palestinian story.”
“Did Hamas use Iranian aid? Definitely yes…Does Hamas need Iranian permission to operate? No,” Zimmt continued. “Was there early coordination between Hamas, Iran, and Hezbollah? It's possible. But, in the end, it is an action by Hamas based on it own interests arising from the Palestinian reality.
“My assessment is also supported by the recent statement of the IDF spokesman who said, ‘Iran is a significant player, but we cannot say that it planned the operation or trained for it,’" Zimmt continued.
Israeli opposition leader and former Defense Minister Benny Gantz praised Biden’s steadfast support for Israel.
“President Biden, 50 years after your first visit to Israel as a young Senator, your support for Israel has remained steadfast and ironclad,” Gantz tweeted after Biden’s remarks. “This evening, I want to thank you and the administration wholeheartedly for your unwavering support and regional leadership.”
Whether Biden discussed with Netanyahu the prospect of his forming a unity war cabinet with opposition leaders Gantz and former Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid, Biden did not say.
Israeli commentator Ehud Yaari was scathing on Netanyahu dithering on forming a possible unity war cabinet today with opposition leaders.
“We have entered this confrontation in a situation where we have a government and mainly a prime minister who is discredited, and not trusted by more than half the population,” Yaari said by Zoom from Israel on a panel on the crisis hosted by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy today.
“Four days after this horrible massacre, he still can’t make up his mind about forming an emergency war cabinet with the opposition, because some hooligan like Ben Gvir, whom he appointed as Minister of National Security, wants to be in that cabinet,” Yaari continued. “And the opposition leaders rightly say no…So it’s four days, and we still don’t have a war cabinet.”
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