Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed Sunday that the Biden administration believes many Americans have been killed in the conflict that has engulfed Israel.
“Yes, we have reports that several Americans were killed. We’re working overtime to confirm it,” Blinken told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“At the same time, there are reports of missing Americans and again, We are working to confirm those reports.”
He did not give an estimate.
The Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas launched a surprise attack and barrage of rockets into Israel paired with a ground attack Saturday.
More than 600 Israelis were killed in the fighting and 2,000 wounded, according to Israeli officials.
The Israeli cabinet invoked Article 40 of Aleph, marking the first officially declared war since 1973.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed “great revenge” and that Israel will emerge “victorious.”
Antony Blinken insists that the US is supporting Israel as it fights the biggest military conflict it has faced in five decades.REUTERS
Meanwhile, more than 313 Palestinians were reported dead and 1,990 were reported missing, including 20 killed and 121 children injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Blinken condemned the violence and affirmed the Biden administration’s support for the Jewish State, emphasizing that “we have been on the phone throughout our government for the last 24 hours.”
One major difference between this current conflict and past conflicts such as the Yom Kippur War in 1973 is that this is not a conventional war, Blinken pointed out.
“This is a massive terrorist attack on Israeli civilians, [with] indiscriminate rocket fire on civilians — thousands of rockets — men and women and children dragged across the border into Gaza,” he said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed Israel will exact “great revenge” on Hamas. ZUMAPRESS.com
So far, despite fighting near the Israel-Lebanon border, Blinken believes activity there is currently limited.
Given the emergence there, there are high fears of the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah joining the fight and adding a second line, given its alignment with Hamas.
“President Biden was very clear from the first moment that nobody else should try to take advantage of this situation,” Blinked said, noting that the US is watching Hezbollah “very carefully.”
A potential motivation for the Hamas attack, which came a day after the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, may have been negotiations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Blinken surmised.
The Republican frenzy has criticized the Biden administration over the recent prisoner exchange deal with Iran finalized last month, in which $6 billion in Iranian oil revenue will not be frozen.
Blinken countered that “not a single dollar has been spent from that account,” which is closely monitored by the US Treasury.
He also emphasized that “we have not seen evidence that Iran ordered” the recent attacks, but rebuked Tehran’s support for Hamas and Hezbollah.
Many observers have compared Israeli intelligence failures before the attack to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US.
“There’s going to be a lot of time in a few days to come in and see what people missed, what’s possible, what we can do better,” Blinken said.
For now, the US is working to make sure Israel “has what it needs,” he added.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
