At least 11 Americans were killed in the Hamas attacks on Israel, President Biden confirmed Monday, raising the toll from nine.
In a lengthy statement, Mr. Biden also said an unknown number of American citizens still remain unaccounted for and that the U.S. is working with Israeli officials to obtain more information about where they could be located.
Mr. Biden said it is “likely” that American citizens may be among those still being held hostage by Hamas. He said that he has directed his team to work with Israel on “every aspect” of the hostage crisis, including sharing intelligence and deploying experts to advise on hostage recovery efforts.
“It’s heart-wrenching. These families have been torn apart by inexcusable hatred and violence,” Mr. Biden said. “The pain these families have endured, the enormity of their loss and agony of those still awaiting information is unfathomable.”
More than 1,600 people have died since Hamas, a terrorist group that controls Gaza, launched an attack against Israel on Saturday. That triggered an attack by Israeli forces, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying Israel is at war with Hamas.
Mr. Biden said he has spoken multiple times with Mr. Netanyahu since the attacks unfolded, and vowed that Israel will “have what it needs to defend to itself and its people.”
The president urged American citizens in Israel to “take sensible precautions,” adding that the State Department is providing consular assistance and updated security alerts. He said commercial flights out of Israel are still available to Americans.
However, he did not encourage Americans to leave the country, as presidents typically do during a war in a foreign nation.
The president also said that federal and local law enforcement have stepped up security around synagogues and other centers of Jewish life in the U.S., adding that both Homeland Security and the FBI are monitoring potential domestic threats in connection to the attacks in Israel.
Earlier Monday, DHS and the FBI said there was no “current specific intelligence indicating a threat to the United States.” Still, the agencies have issued “public safety concern” bulletins to state and local law enforcement agencies over the weekend.
“This is not some distant tragedy. The ties between Israel and the United States run deep. It is personal for so many American families who are feeling the pain of this attack as well as the scars inflicted through millennia of antisemitism and persecution of Jewish people,” Mr. Biden said.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.