According to US President Joe Biden, Americans are among the people kidnapped by the Islamist Hamas. The Commander-in-Chief ordered additional experts from the US to be sent.
“We now know that among those held by Hamas are American citizens,” Biden said in a speech at the White House on Tuesday. He didn’t give a number.
“I have directed the administration to consult with Israeli colleagues and advise them on hostage rescue and rescue efforts,” Biden said. He also ordered security measures around Jewish institutions in the United States to be tightened. “There is no place for hate in America,” he said.
Biden promises military aid
The president made clear that he wanted to provide Israel with additional military assistance – he would also seek corresponding support from the US Congress. “We have to be crystal clear at this point: We stand with Israel,” Biden emphasized.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to travel to Israel on Thursday. This was announced on Tuesday by US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. Blinken wanted to discuss the situation there with Israeli partners and discuss how best to support Israel “in the fight against the terrorists who carried out these terrible attacks,” Miller said.
14 Americans killed
John Kirby, communications director for the National Security Council, told CNN on Tuesday morning that active fighting in Gaza made it difficult to rescue the hostages.
Meanwhile, the number of Americans killed in Hamas attacks has also risen to at least 14. “More than a thousand men, women and children were slaughtered in their homes, on the streets and in the desert fields, including at least fourteen Americans,” President Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said on Tuesday. Washington had previously reported at least eleven dead American citizens.
The US and Israel traditionally have a close friendship. The US supports Israel with billions of dollars, a significant portion of which goes to missile defense.
Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization by the US, EU and Israel, carried out the worst massacre of civilians since Israel’s founding on Saturday in a major attack on the border area with Israel from the Gaza Strip. More than 1,000 people were killed and 2,600 others were injured.
Source: Krone
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