“Like every nation in the world, Israel has the right to respond. Without a doubt, it has a duty to respond to these vicious attacks.” Joe Biden, President of the United States, makes the comments as Israel lays siege to Gaza and prepares the offensive following the Hamas attack.
“Hamas like Isis: It is terrorism”
What Hamas did was comparable “to the worst acts of the Islamic State,” Biden said in the White House, repeating twice: “We are with Israel, we are with Israel.” Over a thousand civilians have been “massacred,” there are “Stomach-churning” news about “children killed, entire families massacred,” “young people massacred at a party celebrating peace. This is terrorism,” the US President emphasized in the statement that the American victims of the massacre are currently 14 and that other US citizens are hostages.
Israel, Biden says in his message from the White House, “has experienced one of those moments in which evil in its essence is manifested by the terrorist organization Hamas.” “The trauma will not go away,” Biden continues, pointing to the over a thousand deaths in Israel, “the parents massacred for using their bodies to protect their children, the disgusting news of children being killed, the entire families massacred, the massacred young people because they took part in “a festival celebrating peace”.
“Women were raped, assaulted and displayed like trophies. Families remained hidden in fear for hours, desperately trying to silence their children to avoid drawing attention. And thousands of people were injured, alive, but they carry with them the holes from bullets and the wounds of mortar fragments and the memory of what they suffered,” he says again.
US support, “whatever is necessary” for Israel
The United States will ensure that Israel has “all the necessary tools” to defend itself against Hamas. “When Congress meets, we will demand that we take urgent action to fund the national security needs of our most important partners,” Biden said. “This is not about a party or a policy, this is about the security of our world, the security of the United States of America,” he emphasizes.
Biden says his administration will provide ammunition and interceptor missiles for the Iron Dome missile defense system. “We will ensure,” he says, “that Israel does not run out of resources necessary to defend its citizens.”
The United States has “increased our military presence in the region to strengthen deterrence. The Department of Defense has sent the aircraft carrier Gerald Ford to the Eastern Mediterranean and increased our combat aircraft presence. And we are ready to send additional resources if necessary,” he adds, warning enemy forces not to take advantage of the situation in Israel.
Biden also recalls “speaking with the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom to discuss the latest developments with European allies and coordinate a joint response.”
Hamas against Biden
Hamas “strongly” rejects Biden’s words and assesses the statement as “provocative”: the White House aims to “exacerbate tensions between the barbaric Zionist regime and the Palestinian people.” According to Hamas, Biden did not mention “the crimes and terrorism of the Zionist government” nor “the massacres committed by the Zionist forces against cold-blooded people.”
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